Tag: Covid-19 - Page 2 - African News Today

Canada Lifts Travel Restriction On Nigeria, South Africa, Others

18Dec

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Covid-19, News, Nigeria

Canada Lifts Travel Restriction On Nigeria, South Africa, Others

Canada has lifted the travel ban on foreign travellers from Nigeria and nine other African countries. This was disclosed by the country's Health Minister, Jean-Yves Duclos, at a news conference on Friday. Asides Nigeria, the travel restriction on flights was also lifted on South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia, Malawi and Egypt. However, the country re-imposed testing as it warned that the Omicron variant of Covid-19 risks quickly overwhelming hospitals. Read Also: We Won’t Reverse Travel Ban Over FG’s Threat – UK He said the lifting of the travel ban would take effect from 11:59 pm on Saturday. The restriction had been announced last month “to slow the arrival of Omicron in Canada and buy us some time,” he said. “But with Omicron...

We Won’t Reverse Travel Ban Over FG’s Threat – UK

13Dec

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Covid-19, News, Nigeria, Transportation

We Won’t Reverse Travel Ban Over FG’s Threat – UK

The British High Commission on Sunday said the United Kingdom would not reverse its travel ban on Nigeria because of a threat of retaliation by the Federal Government. The spokesman for the British High Commission, Dean Hurlock, said this in response to an inquiry by The PUNCH on Sunday over a statement by the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, that the UK, Canada and Saudi Arabia would be put on Nigeria’s travel ban on Tuesday. Hurlock stated that Britain had made it clear that travel abroad would be different this year, adding that the UK was sticking to its “standard background lines.” Read BREAKING: NCDC Confirms Two Cases Of Omicron Variant In Nigeria In a text message to the high commission, Punch stated that the Federal Government had said it would place a travel ban on ...

FG restricts Airlines from UK, Canada, Saudi Arabia in Reciprocity Over Omicron

12Dec

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Covid-19, News, Nigeria

FG restricts Airlines from UK, Canada, Saudi Arabia in Reciprocity Over Omicron

With effect from Tuesday, Dec. 14, the Federal Government will restrict airlines coming from Canada, United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia into Nigeria. Minister of Aviation, Capt. Hadi Sirika, announced the decision on Sunday in Lagos and explained that it was to reciprocate restricted flights from Nigeria into those countries over the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron. Sirika said President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration would also place the United Kingdom, Canada and Saudi Arabia on a red list over the outbreak and spread of the Omicron variant. The minister noted that if those countries placed Nigeria on a red list, they lacked a moral right to have their airlines fly into Nigeria on commercial operations. “There is also the case of Saudi Arabia that put Nigeria on the ban list. O...

Omicron: Sanwo-Olu Shelves Lagos Peace Walk

9Dec

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Covid-19, News, Nigeria, Uncategorized

Omicron: Sanwo-Olu Shelves Lagos Peace Walk

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has shelved the Lagos peace walk planned for December 2021. The Governor, in an address on November 30, 2021, had invited some known faces of the EndSARS protest in the state in October 2020 to a peace walk for “the healing of Lagos” later this month. But in a press statement on Thursday, November 9, 2021, Sanwo-Olu said he is “constrained to stand down all preparations for the Walk for Peace” so as not to “endanger the life of any Lagosian” amid the outbreak of the Omicron COVID-19 variant. He said, “Between Tuesday 30, November 2021 that I made my address and now, we have seen a significant rise in cases associated with the Omicron variant of this pandemic. See Also: Why We Didn’t Stop Ramaphosa From Entering Nigeria – FG “Given th...

Why We Didn’t Stop Ramaphosa From Entering Nigeria – FG

8Dec

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Covid-19, Nigeria, Press Statement, South Africa

Why We Didn’t Stop Ramaphosa From Entering Nigeria – FG

The Federal Government on Monday demanded that Britain rescind the ban imposed on Nigerian travellers over Omicron variant of COVID-19, saying that putting the country on the red list is “unjust, unfair, divisive, indefensible and discriminatory.” Addressing a press conference in his office in Abuja, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, wondered why residents who travel to Britain will be allowed into the country to quarantine and test while Nigerians are not allowed the same treatment. He said it is wrong to impose such punishment on a population of 200 million people because of a few cases of Omicron variant that did not originate in the country. While leaving the decision on whether to respond in kind to the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19, Moham...

National Assembly, NGF Fault UK Travel Ban, Demand Reversal

8Dec

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Covid-19, News, Nigeria

National Assembly, NGF Fault UK Travel Ban, Demand Reversal

The National Assembly and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum on Tuesday condemned the United Kingdom’s travel ban on Nigeria. The lawmakers and the NGF in their separate reactions to the travel ban imposed on Nigeria by the UK on Saturday, demanding a reversal of the travel restriction. At the plenary on Tuesday, members of the House said Nigeria and other African countries were being bullied by Western countries for failing to look inwards and develop their economies. The Minority Leader of the House, Ndudi Elumelu, moved a motion of urgent public importance, titled ‘Need to Intervene in the Suspension of Issuance of Visitors Visa to Nigerians by the United Kingdom Government,’ which the lawmakers unanimously adopted after a long debate. Read Also: FG Faults British Travel Ban, Al...

FG Faults British Travel Ban, Alleges Most Infected Travellers From UK

6Dec

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Covid-19, News, Nigeria

FG Faults British Travel Ban, Alleges Most Infected Travellers From UK

The Federal Government on Sunday ruled out the possibility of restricting foreign travellers from visiting Nigeria despite travel bans on the country by Canada, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Singapore and Hong Kong. This is just as the government stated that most of the in-bound passengers that tested positive for COVID-19 were from the UK. The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, said this on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme on Sunday which was monitored by The PUNCH. Ehanire described as unfortunate the knee-jerk reaction of some countries to the Omicron strain. He noted that even the World Health Organisation had said recently that countries should focus more on collaboration rather than shutting borders. “At the moment we have no plans restricting anybody...

COVID-19: Nigerian Government Vows To Bar Unvaccinated Workers From Offices By December

20Nov

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Covid-19, Labour, News, Nigeria

COVID-19: Nigerian Government Vows To Bar Unvaccinated Workers From Offices By December

The Nigerian government has maintained that unvaccinated workers won’t be allowed to access their offices as from December 1 if they are unable to show proof of their vaccination against the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee PSC on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, Boss Mustapha, announced this Friday in Abuja during the national flag-off of the COVID-19 mass vaccination campaign. He said, “All federal government employees are, therefore, reminded that December 1, 2021 remains the deadline for all to show evidence of being vaccinated or a PCR negative test result done 72 hours before being allowed into their offices. Read Also: US Secretary Of State Visits Nigeria, To Meet Buhari Over COVID-19 Pandemic, Insecurity “I,...

Vaccination Not Compulsory For Civil Servants – FG

15Oct

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Covid-19, News, Nigeria

Vaccination Not Compulsory For Civil Servants – FG

Federal Government has explained that taking the COVID-19 vaccine is a choice and not a compulsory exercise, even though it is expected that every Nigerian should get vaccinated against the dreaded COVID-19 virus. The explanation came against the backdrop of criticisms that followed media reports that effective December 1, 2021, federal civil servants would be expected to present their vaccine cards or risk not being allowed into their workplaces. Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, at a press conference, yesterday, in Abuja, however, clarified that federal civil servants were not under obligation to take the vaccine, but that they must show negative COVID-19 PCR test. “The Presidential Steering Committee (PSC), on W...

COVID: FG Removes South Africa, Brazil, Turkey From Travel Restriction List

14Oct

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Covid-19, News, Nigeria

COVID: FG Removes South Africa, Brazil, Turkey From Travel Restriction List

The federal government says it has taken South Africa, Brazil and Turkey off the list of countries from which travellers are restricted from entering Nigeria. Boss Mustapha, chairman of the presidential steering committee (PSC) on COVID-19, disclosed this on Wednesday at a media briefing in Abuja. The federal government had, in June, added South Africa to the list of countries from which travellers are restricted from entering Nigeria — over the high infection rates recorded in the affected countries. Speaking at the briefing, Mustapha also said a revised protocol for international travel will be released within the next 24 hours. Read Also: Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Drops After Six Months – New Study “Over several months, four countries were placed on high level...