The federal government has reviewed its international travel
protocol to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 variants of concern.
The revised protocol did not place restrictions on inbound
travellers from any country.
Mukhtar Muhammad, national incident manager of the
presidential task force on COVID-19, had said on Monday that the government
will release a new travel protocol to prevent the Omicron COVID-19 variant from
entering Nigeria.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) later
announced on Wednesday that three cases of Omicron had been detected in the
country.
Omicron — identified as a “variant of concern” — was
recently detected by South African authorities.
In the new travel protocol dated December 1 and signed by
Boss Mustapha, chairman, presidential steering committee on COVID-19, the
federal government said: “COVID-19 PCR test to be done within 48hrs before
departure, post-arrival day 2 COVID-19 PCR test, self-isolation for 7 days (for
unvaccinated and partially vaccinated individuals), day 7 post-arrival exit PCR
test (for unvaccinated and partially vaccinated individuals).”
According to the travel protocol which takes effect on
December 5, out-bound travellers are required to provide either valid evidence
of full vaccination against COVID-19 or negative PCR test results within 48hrs
from the time of boarding.
“The review of the
protocol is based on science, national experience, and global developments. The
PSC assures Nigerians, that it shall continue to monitor global and specific
country situations with a view to taking necessary measures to safeguard the
health of Nigerians,” the protocol reads.
“The PSC calls on all Nigerians to ensure that they have
taken their full dose of COVID-19 vaccinations and to continue to observe
compliance to public health social measures.”
The World Health Organisation said Omicron has been detected
in at least 23 countries including the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy,
Denmark, Belgium, Botswana, Israel, Australia and Hong Kong.
Several countries including the UK, US and Germany have
imposed travel restrictions on travellers from Southern Africa.
The Indonesian government, on Sunday, said it will ban
travellers from eight African countries — including Nigeria.
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