Femi Falana, human rights lawyer and senior advocate of
Nigeria (SAN), has asked the federal government to make it mandatory for
persons arriving in Nigeria from China to produce negative COVID test results.
TheCable had reported that China said it will scrap its
quarantine measures for inbound travellers from January 8.
Subsequently, countries began to impose travel restrictions
on travellers arriving from China, while on December 28, about 50 percent of
passengers on two flights arriving Italy from China reportedly tested positive
for COVID
Amid the development, the federal government had said there was no reason yet to impose restrictions on travellers arriving from China.
In a statement on Sunday, Falana warned of the consequences
of not adopting preventive measures as other countries, especially in the face
of China’s recent easing of restrictions.
He said the “rickety” state of Nigeria’s healthcare delivery
system makes it a matter of urgency to prevent another COVID outbreak.
“It is public knowledge that there has been a COVID-19 surge
in China in the last few weeks,” he said.
“The Chinese authorities have been reporting about 5,000
cases a day. Some analysts have said that the crisis has been underreported by
the Chinese government.
“The development has compelled many countries to impose
restrictions on passengers arriving from China. As usual, the federal
government has not adopted any measure to prevent the spread of the dangerous
disease through travellers arriving in Nigeria from China.
“In view of the rickety health care delivery system in the
country, the federal government should, as a matter of urgency, make it
mandatory for passengers arriving in Nigeria from China to produce a negative
COVID-19 test taken not more than two days prior to departure.
“A stitch in time saves nine, as they say. The government
should not wait until the nation’s healthcare is overwhelmed by the pandemic
before taking the necessary scientific steps to prevent another upsurge of
coronavirus infection.”
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