By Haruna Gimba
The Health Writers’ Association of Nigeria (HEWAN) has urged the Federal Government to ban flights from Britain and other countries currently experiencing the spread of the new COVID-19 variant.
The call was contained in a statement jointly signed on Wednesday in Lagos by Chioma Obinna and Lucy Osuizigbo-Okechukwu, President and Secretary of the association respectively.
HEWAN is an umbrella body of all health/science reporters and editors for Television, Radio, Print and Online, registered by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
The journalists’ group appealed to the government not to wait any further before taking necessary steps to keep the variant away from Nigeria.
“HEWAN observes, with great concern, the resurgence of what experts say is the emergence of a new variant of the pandemic coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in some countries.
“There is a need for Nigerian health authorities to put measures in place to prevent it from entering the country. As at today, the new variant is reportedly spreading rapidly in Britain.
“The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed nine instances of the same variant in Denmark, Australia, Italy and the Netherlands. Several other countries, including South Africa, have also confirmed the emergence of variants similar to the one now ravaging Britain.
“Scientists say the new variant is 70 per cent more transmissible than the previously dominant strain, though there’s no evidence yet that it could be more fatal. There is however, fear that it will spread swiftly to other countries,” the statement said.
HEWAN noted that expectedly, countries around the world are reacting swiftly to prevent or curtail the spread of the new variant.
It said that presently, over 40 countries had banned flights from Britain, while neighbouring France had temporarily shut its borders.
The association urged health authorities in Nigeria not to be silent about the new development.
“The nation is already experiencing an influx of travellers as expected in this festive period, from different countries including those now being ravaged by the new strain of COVID-19. “It is, therefore, imperative that the country acts fast as the world confronts another wave of the pandemic.’’
“The increasing daily number of COVID-19 infections detected in the country in the past two weeks revealed that a second wave of the outbreak had begun.
“We appealed to the government to ensure funds are dedicated for research institutes such as the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) and others to develop a home-grown vaccine that could tackle the virus,” HEWAN stated.
