Stranded foreign passengers bussed to northern Turkey

ISTANBUL: Some 1,500 passengers from Algeria, Tunisia and Jordan stranded at Istanbul airport by the coronavirus pandemic have been taken to a dormitory in northern Turkey, local media reported on Thursday.

The passengers — the majority Algerian — were trapped with flights to their home countries were cancelled. They were bussed to students’ dormitory in the northern city of Karabuk, the private DHA news agency reported.

Istanbul Airport operator IGA said Tuesday that more than 1,000 Algerians were at the airport for several days as Ankara tried to “persuade the Algerian government to grant landing rights for the affected flights.

The North African country has suspended since March 19 all scheduled travel links with Europe in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu spoke with his counterparts from Algeria and Tunisia on Wednesday, according to a diplomatic source. As of Thursday, Turkey had recorded 59 coronavirus-related deaths and 2,433 cases.

Nigeria warns virus cases could explode in days ahead: Nigeria´s government on Thursday warned that Africa´s most populous nation could soon see an “exponential” increase in coronavirus infections unless contacts of confirmed cases are tracked down quicker. The country of around 190 million people has so far recorded just 51 infections and 1 death, but testing has been limited. “We have 4,370 people of interest whom we are tracing. We urge those who have had contact with suspected cases to immediately report to the authorities,” Information Minister Lai Mohammed said. “We are on the verge of reaching the level of community spread. We must stop this immediately or we will record exponential cases in the days ahead.