By Omeiza Ajayi
The Federal Government has announced a review of the international travel protocols for all category of travellers.
Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee, PSC, on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, Mr. Boss Mustapha, disclosed this at a news briefing, yesterday, in Abuja.
According to him, “The PSC has reviewed the situations around the world and applies such to the situation in Nigeria and have revised the International Travel Protocols, which should come into effect on April 4, 2022.”
The reviewed protocols provide that in-bound (fully vaccinated) passengers arriving in Nigeria will no longer be required to take a pre-departure PCR COVID-19 Test.
“On arrival, for fully vaccinated passengers, a sample will be taken at the airport for rapid antigen test by the NCDC within the arrival hall of the airport.
“Passengers who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated shall take a COVID-19 PCR test 48 hours before departure, or do a Day 2 and Day 7 test on arrival. Such passengers will be expected to pay for their PCR tests through the travel platform.
“Fully vaccinated passengers will not be charged for arrival rapid antigen tests at the airport. Rules that apply to fully vaccinated adults also apply to children aged 10 – 18 years, they will not be required to have pre-arrival PCR tests but will have a sample taken at the arrival hall but not charged.
“All passengers travelling out of Nigeria are encouraged to be fully vaccinated and to fully comply with COVID-19 protocols and requirements in their country of destination.
“The PSC continues to strongly recommend the use of face masks in enclosed environments. In open spaced, the use of face masks is discretional.”
He lamented that so far, the world has recorded over 471 million confirmed cases, six million deaths and over 11 billion vaccine doses administered, “while in Nigeria, we have recorded 255,103 and 3,142 persons have died as a result of COVID-19.
“We have vaccinated over 20 million persons with at least the first dose. These number is not very encouraging, hence, the need for all eligible Nigerians to come out and be vaccinated.”
“The Port Health Services have so far screened about 2,357 Nigerians evacuated from Ukraine for COVID-19 out of the over 8,000 residents or students living in Ukraine. Out of these passengers, 193 tested positive to COVID-19 and are managed according to our protocols,” he added.
Source https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/03/covid-19-fg-reviews-intl-travel-protocols/
