The industrial director of Lafarge Plc, Mr. Segun Soyoye, has said that the Italian who brought coronavirus to Nigeria came to inspect some installations of machines which the company bought from a Swedish firm.
Soyoye disclosed this while speaking during an on-the-spot-assessment by Ogun State government, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), and the World Health Organisation (WHO) teams to Lafarge facility at Ewekoro, Ogun State.
He said the Italian did not go behind the Lafarge guest house at Ishofin Estate before he was evacuated, having developed abnormal temperatures that suggested he had been infected with Covid-19.
“The Italian came for a business visit. He was in Lagos on Monday and slept at Airport Hotel, Ikeja. Our driver took him there.
“When we observed abnormal temperature and symptoms, we quickly instituted an Emergency Response Team which is led by the company’s chief executive officer. We have to find a way of analysing and identifying not only the Italian but also the other contacts.
“The contacts are now 39 and we have quarantined them, the house and clinic as well as the vehicles. We don’t take chances; that is why they are put there.
“They will be there for 14 days. We will continue to observe them; we have their database, showing their biodata and other information.
“The doctor is here and what he is doing is to check them on a regular basis. So far, everybody is stable. They are not symptomatic; we are providing everything for them over there.
“The other thing that I have not said is that the clinic that was used for the infected person is closed, disinfected, and we moved everybody out.
“All the guys on duty that day, they were also quarantined, so they will be there for 14 days as well.”
He also said its production lines were not shut as the guest house where the Italian was lodged is five kilometres to the manufacturing plants in Ewekoro.
The team leader of WHO in Nigeria, Mr. Ibrahim Mamadu, commended the internal processes undertaken so far by Lafarge Africa to contain the deadly disease.
However, he advised the company and others to acquire digital thermometers to check body temperatures instead of infrared thermometers for accurate body temperature readings.
