TheCable

Osagie Ehanire, minister for health, says Nigeria has no immediate plans to impose travel restrictions on any country over coronavirus.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had declared coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and urged all countries to activate and scale up their emergency response mechanisms to prevent the spread of the virus.

Countries like China, Saudi Arabia, Italy, the United States, Isreal, India, and Uganda have restricted travelling into their countries from nations considered as high risk.

But speaking with journalists on Friday in Abuja, the minister said Nigeria has seen no need to impose such restrictions “because the transmission risk to the country is not yet high”.

He said the federal government is monitoring the outbreak on the international scene and would employ the necessary measures when appropriate.

He said although the risk of transmission is higher among air travellers, transmission from land borders “cannot be ruled out”.

He, however, advised Nigerians to delay travelling to countries considered high risk unless it is of great importance.

“We don’t go after a fly with a sledgehammer. We are operating with a tailored approach that is suitable for the situation on ground in Nigeria. We don’t want to put restrictions where they are not helpful and we are monitoring the situation closely. When there is any change, we will do the needful,” Ehanire said.

“Our situation is different from what is obtainable in China or the USA or Italy, and as such, we cannot employ the same approach. Every response to the outbreak is country-tailored.

“We are working in partnership with the Port Health Services to prioritise measures for the containment of COVID-19, especially the screening of passengers at points of entry.”

He added that the health ministry in collaboration with the ministry of foreign affairs organised a meeting with members of the diplomatic corps in Nigeria and asked for their cooperation in curbing the spread of the virus.

The minister added that the index case is making good progress and should be released from hospital next week.

There are over 118,000 cases of the virus globally and more than 4,600 deaths recorded.