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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nMinistry of Health sources confirmed that the pilots and\ncabin crew members claimed their management did not inform them of the 14-day\ncompulsory quarantine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As such, the flight personnel initially refused to follow\nthe port health officials to the quarantine centre provided by the Lagos State\nGovernment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was subsequently a heated exchange that lasted for\nabout three hours over the 14-day compulsory quarantine between the crew and\nthe port health officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After several calls by the port health officials on duty to\ntop officials of the Ministry of Health in Abuja as well as top officials of\nthe Lagos State Ministry of Health, the crew members bowed to pressure and\nagreed to go to the quarantine centre at about 1am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On arriving the Scholars Lodge at the University of Lagos\nwhere the state government had prepared for the crew to be quarantine around\n2am, another debate ensued over the type of the apartment provided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The crew members insisted that they wanted a single-user\napartment for each member of the crew instead of the two-bedroom apartment\nmeant to be shared by two persons which the state provided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Top health officials told Sunday PUNCH the crew asked\nofficers on duty to take them to another facility as the apartments were not\nthe type they wanted. This debate, it\nwas learnt, went on for another three hours till about 5 am before the crew\nfinally agreed to stay at the centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, before the crew departed the Lagos airport, one\nof the 17 crew members had escaped and left apparently for his house, unknown\nto the port health officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was not discovered until Thursday evening when a head\ncount was conducted at the quarantine centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was also at this time officials discovered that two out\nof the 16 crew members brought to the Scholars Lodge had also escaped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Findings by Sunday PUNCH revealed that the Ministry of\nHealth and Lagos State Government had reached out to the management of the\nairline over the whereabouts of the two crew members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As of the time of filing this report, it had yet to be\nascertained where the two crew members were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When contacted on Friday, the Director, Port Health\nServices, Ministry of Health, Dr Morenike Alex-Okoh, in her reaction, said she\nwas not authorised to speak on the matter. She directed our correspondent to\nthe minister of health or the health ministry\u2019s permanent secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Abdullahi\nMashi, confirmed the development but noted that the cabin crew members who left\nthe quarantine centre had returned to the facility, saying \u201cthey are back now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked further about the health risks of the crew leaving the\nquarantine, having met several other contacts during that period, Mashi said,\n\u201cThey are back, it is left for the Lagos State surveillance team to work on\nthat. They will do the needful. The important thing is that they are back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Air Peace also confirmed the development but did not explain\nthe reasons the crew members left the facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Chief Operating Officer, Air Peace, Mrs Toyin Olajide,\nin a terse message to Sunday PUNCH said, \u201cAll crew are back in the quarantine\nfacility, including the engineer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked when the crew members returned to the facility, she\nsaid \u201cFriday afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She did not give reasons the crew left the quarantine\nfacility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of\nHealth, Dr Olusegun Ogunye, when contacted on the matter, confirmed the\ndevelopment but noted that all the 17 pilots and flight attendants were back in\nthe facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ogunye, who spoke through the spokesperson for the state\nhealth ministry, Mr Tubosun Ogubanwo, said, \u201cThe state government has reached\nout to all the 17 pilots and flight attendants through the Epidemiology and\nSurveillance Team on COVID-19. So, all 17 of them are now together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked further on the health implications of the crew leaving\nthe quarantine centre and returning after about 24 hours, Ogunye said, \u201cWhat I\nwant you to know is that the state government has reached out to them and\nnecessary action has been taken. I believe the team is in charge of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Oyetunji Abioye (Punch) Three out of the 17 pilots and flight attendants who flew 14 Chinese medical doctors and medical supplies from China to Nigeria on Wednesday have boycotted the Lagos quarantine centre provided…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n