FG Mulls Six-month Travel Ban on Passengers without COVID-19 Result
The federal government has vowed to impose stiff sanctions, including suspension from all travels for up to six months or denial of foreign travels for all passengers who arrive the country without COVID-19 result.
The government has also confirmed that the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in the country in the past three weeks has dropped.
The National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 , Dr. Sani Aliyu, made the threat at the briefing of the PTF in Abuja yesterday.
He explained that the protocols were in place for the reopening of international airspace in manner that will guarantee the safety of international travellers from September 5.
He reiterated that airlines that allow passengers without the PCR result to board will be sanctioned when they arrive the country, while the details of passengers that decline to do the test after day seven and up till day 14 will be forwarded to the immigration service and the Department of State Services (DSS) for appropriate action.
Aliyu said all intending travellers to Nigeria must present COVID-19 negative results that must be done by a certified laboratory 48 hours before boarding.
He also warned that passengers with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 will not be allowed to board even if their PCR result is negative.
Passengers, according to him, will then self-isolate for seven days after leaving the airport , and after the seventh day, they will present themselves to the sample collection centre to confirm their status.
‘’You will exit self-isolation if your result is negative. At the moment we don’t have the infrastructure at the airport to commence testing but we hope in the coming months we will be able to make suitable arrangements and we might even have rapid diagnostic tests that will allow us to have real time access to results straightaway,’’ Aliyu said.
The federal government has also confirmed that the exiting secondary students who tested positive for COVID-19 have resumed classes having now tested negative for the virus and discharged from treatment centres.
The Minister of State for Education, Mr. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba made the disclosure while giving updates at the PTF briefing.
Nwajiuba revealed that four of the students were from from Gombe State, one from Kwara State and three from Bayelsa State.
He also said discussion was ongoing regarding the reopening of tertiary institutions, stressing that they have received feedbacks from all the universities about their state of preparedness, which is being tabled before the PTF.