Nigeria has included South Africa to the lists of high-risk COVID-19 countries.
Gatekeepers News reports that Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 has urged Nigerians not to lose guard as there are spikes of the new variants of the virus in other countries.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman, PSC on COVID-19, Mustapha Boss made this known at the national briefing on Monday, 28 June 2021.
The PSC encouraged members of the public not to lower their guards yet because of the spikes in some countries (including African countries) and the emergence of variants of concern in several jurisdictions where the third wave has occurred.
Boss said, additional measures to be met by passengers arriving from Brazil, Turkey and India remain in place for another four weeks due to concerns associated with the importation of such virulent strain.
He added that South Africa, Zambia, Rwanda, Namibia, and Uganda have, however, been added to this category.
According to him, “the four major variants of concern are now classified as Alpha (UK), Beta (SA); Gamma (Brazil), and Delta (India). The Delta variant which has wrecked devastating havoc is not yet found in Nigeria hence the need to tighten our borders and be more vigilant.”
Upon the completion of the six-month ban for the first batch of 100 COVID-19 travel advisory violators, PSC reassured Nigerians that sanctions will be imposed on violators to protect them and safeguard our nation.
According to the PSC Chairman, the work-from-home directives given to federal civil servants from GL 12 and below remains in place until further notice to avert a third wave.
Meanwhile, the PSC through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has continued to intensify efforts to acquire vaccines for the next phase.