By Asmau Ahmad
Nigeria’s 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 Mukhtar Mohammed, who disclosed this to The Punch in Abuja, however, admitted that the country was at risk of a fresh surge of the virus, therefore, advised Nigerians to go for vaccination.
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 travel.
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, Dr 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.
Speaking further, the je noted that Nigeria was at risk of a fresh surge of the virus as a result of China’s population.
“We are not imposing any mandatory test on visitors from China for now. We are monitoring the situation. China is a quarter of the world unless you stop people from travelling.
“But nothing is ruled out, if there is a need, we will not hesitate to take it as we did before, all we need is for Nigerians to cooperate and understand why we are taking the actions that we have to take.
“If Chinese people are coming into Nigeria, certainly the cases will continue to rise even right now, cases are rising and like I said there are no new variants and we have not seen any increase in terms of hospitalisation and mortality. Therefore, even if someone is positive, we are not going to quarantine that person.
“Vaccination is important, we advise people to go for their vaccination. More than half of the population in this country based on data have suffered from COVID-19, most of us without knowing were infected at one time or the other.”
