COVID-19: FG Rules Out Restricting Travellers From China
The Federal Government said it has not considered imposing mandatory COVID-19 testing or restrictions on travellers from China until there is a need for it.
The Coordinator of the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, Dr Muktar Muhammed, disclosed this to one of our correspondents in Abuja on Thursday.
But virologists warned that there could be a fresh outbreak of the virus in the country.
There are reports that countries are imposing COVID-19 testing and restrictions on visitors from China following Beijing’s announcement that it would remove curbs on overseas travels.
Reports also indicate that there has been a COVID-19 surge in the country, with the nation reporting about 5,000 cases a day, which analysts said were underreported.
Media reports reveal that many hospitals and funeral homes in China are already overwhelmed by worsening COVID-19 even as the government reports just a handful of new deaths from the virus.
Reports also show that China is struggling to keep up with calls for funeral and cremation services
The United States, which imposed mandatory COVID-19 testing on visitors from China, cited a lack of “adequate and transparent” COVID data in China for its decision.
Besides the US, Italy, Japan, Taiwan, and India are among the growing number of countries imposing curbs on travellers from China amid the COVID-19 surge.
The Director General of the World Health Organisation, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus in a statement, said, “We continue to call on China to share the data and conduct the studies we have requested, and which we continue to request. As I have said many times before, all hypotheses about the origins of this pandemic remain on the table.
“At the same time, WHO is very concerned over the evolving situation in China, with increasing reports of severe disease.
“To make a comprehensive risk assessment of the situation on the ground, the WHO needs more detailed information on disease severity, hospital admissions and requirements for intensive care unit support.
“The WHO is supporting China to focus its efforts on vaccinating people at the highest risk across the country, and we continue to offer our support for clinical care and protecting its health system.”
The Coordinator and Technical Head of the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, Muhammed, said the government was not imposing any mandatory test on visitors from China for now.
According to him, the surge in COVID-19 cases in China is predictable after the decision to lift strict rules that kept the virus at bay.
Muhammed however, said “What is happening in China is quite predictable because they are doing what is called the Europe COVID-19 policy and when you do that, suddenly you relax that the number of cases is going to increase. China constitutes about a quarter of the world’s population and therefore if they open their borders and people are travelling out, there is a high chance that they can export COVID-19. We had a similar situation earlier on with Europe and they were exporting COVID-19 to many parts of the world.
“So, we are monitoring the situation. We advise people to continue to take their vaccination because that is the sure way that even if you get infected, you are not likely to be admitted or to die from COVID-19. We are monitoring the situation to see what is best to protect Nigerians.
“We recently relaxed our COVID-19 protocols and that was because of so much pressure on us, we don’t copy because some other countries are doing something different, we knew by December that cases are going to rise but the good thing is that there are no new variants and we have not seen a major change.
“We know that the US is putting that restriction on China and some other countries are also doing that, India is doing that. Possibly, the UK is going to do it any moment from today but for us, we will look at the evidence, we will allow data, and we will allow the empirical evidence to lead to any action that we have to take.
“In the meantime, it’s for us to continue with vigilance, people should continue to complete the health declaration form before coming into the country and if you know you have symptoms, you should declare it so that you can be subjected to secondary screening.