Nigeria Records 18,000 Cases Of COVID- 19 From Inbound Travellers

FROM the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control ( NCDC) came, yesterday, a revelation that over 18,000 cases of COVID- 19 have been recorded from inbound travellers to Nigeria as of 16th Januar y 2022.

Director General of the NCDC, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, who dis - closed this in a statement entitled “Update in the use of Nigerian International Travel Portal” explained that the decision to make repeat tests mandatory in Nigeria was based on the review of COVID19 test positivity data among returnees to Nigeria during the first and subsequent waves of the pandemic.

Adetifa argued that the repeat test is “necessary for ensuring a balance between our mandates to protect the health of Nigerians from more infections and support the restart of the economy, including international travel.”

He said: “Following complaints and enquiries on the use of the Nigeria International Travel Portal ( NITP), the NCDC is making clarifications. The NITP was launched by the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID- 19 ( PSC- COVID- 19), formerly Presidential Task Force, with support from the Coalition Against COVID- 19 ( CA- COVID).

“Since the resumption of international flights postCOVID- 19 lockdown in Nigeria on 5th September 2020, the portal remains an effective means of preventing importation of COVID- 19 via air travel, which reduces the risk of furtherspreadof thevirusand its variants in the country. Since its launch, the NITP has been updated frequently overtime and more recently, there was an upgrade in October 2021 to enable a more user- friendly experience for travellers, laboratories, and other users”.

“We are aware of reports of travellers to Nigeria who have experienced delays at the airport for not meeting all the travel requirements as stated on the NITP. To ensure a seamless use of the travel portal, the NCDC urges the public to adhere strictly to the guidance on the travel portal as summarised below: * Registration on the travel portal prior to departure should be done immediately your negative COVID- 19 test result is obtained, preferably 24 hours before your travel date.

* Card payments are recommended over bank transfers, especially if registration on the portal is done less than 24 hours before departure as highlighted by the disclaimer on the travel portal.