…As fear over Omicron mounts
…FG laments constrains on vaccine roll out .
..Scale up safety protocols – Resident Doctors to FG
…UK ban on Nigeria travels take effect today
By Moses Adeniyi & Ariemu Ogaga
Pointers of returning to enforcement of restrictions of gathering and other safety COVID-19 protocols are taking course as pressure on the Federal Government continues to heighten over the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus.
Following fears of another surge in cases leading to another phase of spread, experts have called on the government to consider resumption of strong enforcement of restrictions as well as other safety protocols earlier in place to guide against the spread of the virus.
Following the apprehension over the Omicron variant, Resident Doctors have urged the Federal Government to resort to scaling up enforcement of COVID-19 protocols in the Country.
Speaking to Nigerian NewsDirect on Sunday, the President, Association of Resident Doctors, Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Dr Nnamdi Nd-Ezuma, called on the Federal Government to return to restrictions on social gathering, enforcement of use of facemask, handwashing and other non-Pharmaceutical measures aimed at securing Nigeria from the spread of the virus.
Nnamdi who urged Nigerians to key into the ongoing vaccination exercise to combat further spike of fears, advocated that Federal Governemnt should look into revisiting its measures on containning the COVID-19 virus.
He lamented that unlike in the past, Nigerians no longer regard putting on facemask even in hospitals.
“We should not be reactive to most of these things. There were some set down rules, travel ban, restrictions, use of facemask, overcrowding, and social distancing, among others.
“In a way, some of these things have been gradually relaxed. First of all, despite the vaccination, it is on record that people already vaccinated still contact the virus. These laid down rules are things we cannot do without.
“We should scale up the restrictions on enforcing social distancing, use of face mask, and crowd reduction. There is no other way to contain the virus; there is no cure to the virus yet.
“Lets go back to those restriction measures and maintain them. Because as some of us are concerned, facemask has become a way of life. We should use it till we are out of the woods. Maintenance of COVID-19 non pharmaceutical protocols will go a long way in curbing the new variant.”
Recall that the South Africa National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) had, on November 25, announced the discovery of 22 positive cases of the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron – a development which has since generated reactions amid travel bans from the developed world.
This is just as travel restrictions from Nigeria into the UK is being enforced with effect from today.
Recall the United Kingdom had added Nigeria among Countries on its red list as a result of the discovery of COVID-19 Omicron cases in England linked to recent travellers from Nigeria.
The addition of Nigeria came following UK’s decision placing a temporary ban on air travel from six southern African countries: South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe — with immediate effect to prevent importation of the variant into Britain.
According to the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, in a statement made available to journalists, the UK Government arrived at the decision to take precautionary measures to protect people in both Countries.
“This new precautionary measure means that a temporary travel ban will be introduced for all non-UK and non-Irish citizens and residents who have been in Nigeria in the last 10 days, meaning they will be refused entry into the UK,” the statement reads.
“This does not apply to those who have stayed airside and only transited through Nigeria while changing flights.
“Travellers from Nigeria are still able to transit English airports, provided they have the necessary transit visa,” the Statement had added.
“Over the recent days, we have learned of a significant number of growing cases linked to travel with Nigeria. There are 27 cases already in England and that’s growing. Nigeria narrows second only to South Africa in terms of cases linked to Omicron.
“So today, the government has decided to add Nigeria to the travel red list and that will be effective from 4am on Monday. This will mean that only UK residents or citizens of the UK can enter the UK from Nigeria from that point onwards, and they would have to quarantine in one of the relevant hotels.
“We’ve also decided to require pre-departure tests for all inward travellers that will be effective from 4 am on Tuesday, and they’ll be required a maximum of 48 hours before the departure time,” the Government had said.
As the tension rises, it has been disclosed that the national travel advisory has been revised by the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 and now requires all inbound travellers to Nigeria to present a negative COVID-19 test result done not more than 48hrs before departure.
The Director-General, Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, had disclosed that pre-booking and payment for all-day 2 and day 7 COVID-19 PCR tests are prerequisites for travel and, in addition, all outbound passengers, regardless of the requirements of destination Countries are expected to present evidence of full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 PCR test done not later than 48 hours before departure.
Statistics obtained from the National Primary Health care Development Agency (NPHCDA) last month showed that a total of 3, 669, 290 had received full dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while 6,717,056 of total eligible population targeted for COVID-19 vaccination had received first dose of the vaccine.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has lamented again that only about three per cent of Nigeria’s population has been vaccinated against COVID-19, attributing the deficits to poor access to the vaccine by developing Countries.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed made the disclosure in Madrid, Spain at the 24th General Assembly of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).
In a statement issued on the event, by the Special Assistant to the President (Media), Office of the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Segun Adeyemi, Mohammed warned that lack of vaccination by developing countries would provide a fertile ground for the COVID-19 virus to mutate, thus threatening the progress already recorded even in the developed Countries.
The Minister who spoke against the background of the latest mutation (Omicron) of the COVID-19 virus, lamented that most developed Countries had already vaccinated 60 per cent and above of their population, while most developing Countries were currently below five per cent.
“My Country Nigeria, the largest economy in Africa, has just vaccinated only about three per cent of our population,” he was quoted.
Mohammed noted that slow and delayed vaccination rollout in low and middle-income Countries had left many of them vulnerable to COVID-19 variants, new surges of infection and slower rate of recovery.
It would be recalled that in November at the Paris Peace Forum (PPF), President Muhammadu Buhari, had on Thursday 11th, lamented to world leaders what he sees as “lopsidedness” in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, which according to him, has put Africa in a disadvantage.
Buhari who raised a flag of warning had said “if global vaccination is the only way to end the COVID-19 pandemic, then all stakeholders must act in a coordinated manner to plug the vaccine supply gap in Africa.”
Comparing statistics of vaccination ratio between the developed world and Africa, he had quoted recent data, as of 4th November, 2021, which stated that 91.3 doses of vaccine had been given for every 100 persons across the world, while the same date, however, only 14.7 doses of vaccine per 100 persons had been administered in Africa – which according to him was “a clear case of lopsidedness.”
“The state of vaccine delivery across the world leaves much to be desired,’’ he said, lamenting that “we have a situation where some countries are giving booster third doses for their citizens when millions across the world, especially in the developing world, are yet to receive a single dose.’’
Controversies still shroud the new variant of the virus which the World Health Organisation (WHO) has christened Omicron, as Scientists have delved into inquiring into the potency of existing vaccines against the variant.