No case of corona virus in port, MWUN claims

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has described the six cases of covid19 aboard a vessel in Lagos report by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) as untrue.

Reacting to the claim by NCDC that a vessel suspected to be coronal virus positive berthed in Lagos, the union maintained that no case of corona virus pandemic has been diagnosed or confirmed in Lagos ports till date.

In a statement signed by the President General, MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju on Friday, the union explained that a suspected case was recorded in Benin Republic but tested negative in the end.

According to the statement, the seafarer in question Sura Shinde, boarded a vessel simply identified as MSC SHAULLA, tested positive for haemorrhagic fever which is basically malaria fever and not the dreaded Coronavirus.

Adeyanju said as part of sensitizing members on the menace of CovID-19, a high-powered team of union officials recently toured all port formations in Lagos to create awareness on the necessity to adopt preventive behaviours while on or off duty with the view to curtailing the spread of the disease in ports.

The statement added that “Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) wishes to announce and support the position of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) that no case of the corona virus has been diagnosed or confirmed in our Lagos ports till date.

The President General also urged port users to be vigilant and support efforts by government and health agencies to curb the continuous spread of the disease.

He also lauded the efficiency of the Port Health officials in monitoring and enforcing compliance to preventive health procedures in the ports.

Adeyanju further urged officials of the Port Health to be vigilant and alert to forestall any form of smuggling the very infectious COVID-19 via the nation’s seaports.

Editing by ‘Biodun Soyele