Apparently worried by the surging cases of COVID-19 infections nationwide and other countries, the Federal Government is considering another ban order on international flights to and fro Nigeria to control further spread of the pandemic.
The Chairman Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Mr. Boss Mustapha, gave this hint while announcing a new COVID-19 advisory on Monday during the Task Force’s briefing in Abuja.
Specifically, he disclosed that the government had opened discussions with the aviation and health authorities as well as the World Health Organization (WHO), on the international travel ban option due to the discovery of new strains of the virus in certain countries.
Mustapha, who is the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said that the Task Force had concluded arrangements with the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to impose sanctions on international travellers that violate the public health protocols by failing to turn up for the post-arrival test on arrival to the country.
The PTF chairman further disclosed that 64,405 of the 163,818 inbound travellers captured on the portal number and that were due for the post-arrival test had failed to turn up for the checks.
