The
Federal Government of Nigeria has rolled out new containment measures against
the importation of COVID-19 from the United Kingdom and South Africa, declaring
that returnees from both countries are required to present two documents before
boarding.
This
was disclosed during Thursday’s briefing by the National Coordinator of the
Presidential Taskforce PTF on COVID-19, Dr Sani Aliyu.
According
to Dr. Aliyu; “In particular, international travelers must register with the
Nigeria international travel portal.
“We
are concerned a out the emergence of the new variant of COVID-19 in the UK and an
additional mutant in South Africa. Our protocol to ensure the safety of our
citizens and prevent the importation of cases into the country is one of the
most strict.
“Specifically,
for the UK and South Africa, the PTF has met and we have decided that additional
measures would be required to ensure the safety of our citizens. So, effective
from Monday, December 28, all passengers coming into the country from the UK
and South Africa on direct flights must use the Nigeria international travel
portal to register, fill in the health questionnaire; they must upload a
negative COVID-19 PCR result with a validity of not more than five days and
they must pay for the COVID-19 PCR test at Day 7 of their arrival in-country.
“When
you are leaving UK or South Africa, you need two documents that you must
present to the airlines. The first document which we already have is a negative
COVID-19 PCR result. The second document is a permit to travel.
“They
have to present these documents to the airlines in order to board. The only way
you can get a permit to travel on the travel portal is by filling your health
questionnaire electronically, uploading a COVID-19 PCR result and paying for
the Day 7 test. If you do not present a permit to travel, the airlines have
been directed not to allow you board”.
Dr.
Aliyu disclosed that a special register would be opened at the airport for all
passengers arriving from both countries and that there would be an enhanced
surveillance system through which these passengers can be contacted when they
arrive their homes.
He
further disclosed that about a hundred of those who violated the protocol
before have had their passports suspended for a minimum of six months, saying
those with foreign passports and visas would have their visas seized.
He
also said the Federal Capital Territory FCT was already running out of bed
spaces due to the rise in the number of infections.
The
government however explained its decision not to rush into banning
international air travels from some countries but said it would scale up
measures to guard against the importation of COVID-19 virus into the country.
Chairman
of the Presidential Taskforce (PTF) on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government
of the Federation, SGF, Mr. Boss Mustapha announced this during the briefing.
“On
international travel especially from the UK, South Africa and some very high
burden areas, we continue to evaluate the actions taken by various countries.
We note that some of the countries that initially banned flights have now
adopted the requirement already in place in Nigeria.
“We
have also weighed the security, economic and social implications of a full ban
especially when we consider the situation in our neighboring countries and the
ECOWAS as a whole. The PTF shall increase measures pertaining to those high
burden countries to scale down the possibilities of importation”, he stated.
Mustapha
added that “the PTF is working with the relevant MDAs on regulatory and
certification issues before we go further, on the subject of vaccines.
“In
2021, its vaccines plus NPIs. As we make progress on this NPIs +Vaccines phase,
I urge the State Governments not to close down their treatment centres. Rather
they should keep them running efficiently and smoothly because the cases of
infections are rising and we must intensify our efforts to support the public
sector laboratories with critical reagents and the PTF expects the leadership
of all Federal Tertiary Health Institutions to raise their level of testing and
turnaround for results.
“We
have gone past the politics of COVID-19. This is the time to work hard”, he
stated.
According
to the SGF, six members of his household have returned home after staying for
12 days at the isolation and treatment centre having tested positive for the
virus.
On
the global conversation on the new strain of virus discovered in the United
Kingdom, UK, Director General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, Dr
Chikwe Iheakwazu said; “Over the last few days, we have monitored reports of
the virus mutating in the UK, South Africa and some other countries but it is
important to establish some facts about what we know, what we do not know and
what we are willing to learn over the next few years.
“The
most important fact to put out there to calm everybody’s nerves is that viruses
mutate all the time.
“We
haven’t found that UK strain but also, it is not something we have been looking
for on the go. To find that, you have to do sequencing. And our focus has not
been on sequencing. We did some sequencing in the past but we haven’t found that.
“We
only found tow that were similar but not the same. However, we are doing more
sequencing. Is it possible that they are circulating, yes. This is because
there are a lot of travels between the UK and Nigeria”, he added.
Iheakwazu
said the NCDC will collaborate with stakeholders to collect new samples for
sequencing in order to determine their variant. “This is ongoing work. It
cannot happen in a hurry. It is very complex. Sequencing is not a
straight-forward business which is why we have only a few centres that are able
to do”.
He
also urged states to reopen their test centres, saying the NCDC alone cannot
conduct all COVID-19 tests sent in from states.
According
to him, the Centre is working on adopting the use of Rapid Diagnostic Test Kits
as from next year in order to scale up testing in the country.
He
said; “On testing, there is light at the end of the tunnel. By next year, we
will be introducing the use of rapid test kits. We have made a significant
procurement that is coming in January and through that, we are taking testing
closer to the people away from the laboratories”.
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