The Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 says, any person who has visited Brazil, India or Turkey within Fourteen (14) days preceding travel to Nigeria, shall be denied entry into Nigeria.
This regulation, however, does not apply to passengers who transited through these countries.
The Presidential Steering Committee Chairmam and Secretary to the government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha in a statement disclosed that, after due consideration, the validity period of pre-boarding COVID-19 PCR test for all Nigeria-bound passengers has been reduced from 96hrs to 72 hours and PCR test results older than 72hours before departure shall not be accepted.
He adds that, any airline who fails to comply shall mandatorily pay a penalty of $3,500 (Three Thousand Five Hundred dollars) for each defaulting passenger and non-Nigerians will be denied entry and returned to the country of embarkation at cost to the Airline.
While Nigerians and those with permanent resident permit shall undergo seven (7) days of mandatory quarantine in a Government approved facility at the point-of-entry city and at cost to the passenger.
“Within 24 hours of arrival shall take a COVID-19 PCR test.
If positive, the passenger shall be admitted within a government-approved treatment centre, in line with National treatment protocols. If Negative, the Passenger shall continue to remain in quarantine and made to undergo a repeat PCR test on day 7 of their quarantine”.
“Passenger(s) arriving in Nigeria from other destinations
Must observe a 7-day self-isolation at their final destination, Carry out a COVID-19 PCR test on day 7 at selected laboratory and Shall be monitored for compliance to isolation protocol by appropriate authorities”.
On false declaration, Passenger(s) who provided false or misleading contact information will be liable to prosecution and Person(s) who willfully disregard or refuse to comply with directions of Port-Health staff, security agencies or evade quarantine shall be prosecuted in accordance with the law
This new travel advisory the statement adds is expected to come into effect from TUESDAY 4TH day of May 2021 and the guidelines subject to review after an initial period of 4 weeks.
Mr. Mustapha states that, the action is taken to continue to safeguard the health of the Nigerian population, as well as to minimize the risk of a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria
He says, the Presidential Steering Committee carried out a risk assessment of countries with high incidence of cases and the assessment took into consideration the epidemiology of cases, prevalence of variants of concern and average passenger volume between Nigeria and each country amongst other indicators and of the countries assessed, this interim travel advisory applies to three (3) countries in the first instance, Brazil, India and Turkey.
“These precautionary measures are a necessary step to minimize the risk of a surge in COVID-19 cases introduced to Nigeria from other countries, while national response activities continue”.