FG mulls travel ban over COVID-19 new strain
Worried by the mutated strain of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom, the Federal Government says it may impose a travel ban to and from certain parts of the world.
The News Agency of Nigeria reported that the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at a special forum organised by the agency.
Mohammed, a member of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, said while the government appreciated the negative economic impact of another lockdown, it would not rule out restriction on movement to and from certain parts of the world.
He said, “We are more concerned about the new strain of COVID-19 which is manifesting itself in the UK; that is the mutated strain.
“It is difficult to detect; it spreads faster and people have been known to die of it within a very short period of its detection.
“This is a major concern to us as a country.
“While I do not want to pre-empt the PTF because we are meeting this (Monday) afternoon, it is going to be top on the agenda of our discussions.
“I will not be surprised if that will be the recommendation of the committee which is meeting later.”
The minister added, “This season, many students are coming from the UK in particular to come and join their families in Nigeria.
“Besides, many of our people, because of the traditional link we have with UK, may want to go there for business or family reunion.
“It is a very testy time and it might be another dangerous period to transmit this new variant of COVID-19.”
The minister noted that many European countries had banned flights to and from the UK.
