The Presidential Steering Committee, (PSC) on the Covid-19 pandemic has added South Africa to the list of countries from where travellers are banned because of the rampant rising cases in the country.
The Chairman of PSC and Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, disclosed this during yesterday’s media briefing of the committee in Abuja.
Recall that the government had in May slammed a similar ban on travellers from India, Brazil and Turkey over similar concerns.
He said: “The PSC has been reviewing these restrictions and is of the opinion that they should remain for another four weeks before it is further reviewed. South Africa, has, however, been added to this category once more.
“In addition to these three countries, the PSC has also shifted its focus on some African countries. South Africa, Zambia, Rwanda, Namibia and Uganda fall in this category.
“South Africa for example, recorded over 100, 000 cases in the last one week, while 20,000 was recorded in the last 24 hours. The four major variants of concern are now classified as Alpha (UK), Beta (SA); Gamma (Brazil) and Delta (India).
“The Delta variant, which has wreaked devastating havoc, is not yet found in Nigeria, hence the need to tighten our borders and be more vigilant”.
The SGF said over the last few weeks, the PSC has been monitoring global developments on Covid-19 with a particular focus on variants of concern.
