Society Gists

The contractor staff of Dangote Fertilizer suspected to have the Coronavirus has been placed under quarantine, according to the company’s management.

In a statement released by the company on Tuesday, the company said;

“The attention of the management of Dangote Industries Limited has been drawn to a flash report of a suspected case of a personnel currently being kept in isolation at the Mainland hospital, Yaba, Lagos.

“We will like to state that an Indian national who is a staff of Onshore Construction Company-a mechanical, electrical and instrumentation contracting firm that specializes in fertilizer construction reported at the Site clinic complaining of high temperature and fever.

“His complaint triggered our Co-Vid 19 Preparation and Prevention Protocols which necessitated further screening and isolation immediately. Mr. Akhil Kunyil, of the Health and Safety Environment of the Onshore Company reported the development to the management following which local authorities were contacted. The patient was immediately conveyed to the Lagos Mainland hospital Center, where he is currently being isolated and undergoing tests.

“As an organisation we have taken the following stringent proactive measures across our entire group:

1) Development of a comprehensive risk identification, control priotization and escalation plan executed by our Co-Vid19 Task Force constituted in January 2020.
2) Identification and retention of a competent team of medical consultants
3) Travel ban for all employees to/from high risk countries as per W.H.O publications of country exposures
4) Travel tracking of all employees and contractors staff arriving/leaving Nigeria and obligations for completion of medical checks to validate health status
5) Implementation of use of Thermal cameras across our various sites as well as infrared thermometers checking in smaller office locations
6) Identification and creation where applicable of holding , isolation and quarantine areas
7) Implementation of use of sanitizers across all locations : sites and offices
8) Multiple and continous awareness campaigns on preventative measures to be taken (both electronic and physical i.e posters, public announcements)

“The above measures are continually updated as the situation globally evolves and we will continue to do so. The welfare of our employees and the nation as a whole remains our utmost priority,” the company said.

Rumours had been flying around that the company asked other staff to self-isolate as a result of the suspected case of Coronavirus.