Coronavirus: Nigeria bans entry from US, UK, China, 10 other countries

The Federal Government  of Nigeria has banned entry into the country for travellers from 13 countries with high number of coronavirus cases.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, who disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja, said the countries are; China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, Norway, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Netherlands and Switzerland.

The SGF said the restrictions will come into effect from Saturday, 21st March, 2020 for four weeks subject to review.

Mustapha, who is also the Chairman of the 13-man Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, told newsmen that the affected countries recorded over 1,000 cases domestically.

The PTF committee, set up by President Muhammadu Buhari, was inaugurated last Tuesday in Abuja and held its first briefing, where it announced the banning of public officers and civil servants from all foreign trips till further notice.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria is restricting entry into the country for travellers from the following 13 countries; China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, Norway, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Netherlands and Switzerland. These are all countries with over 1,000 cases domestically

“All persons arriving in Nigeria, who might have visited these countries often, days prior to such arrival, will be subjected to supervised self-isolation and testing for 14 days.

The Federal Government is temporarily suspending the issuance of all visas on arrival,” Mustapha added.

He also advised all Nigerians to cancel or postpone all non-essential travels to these countries.

He urged public health authorities of countries with high burden to conduct diligent departure screening of passengers and also endorse the travel advisories to their nationals to postpone travels to Nigeria.