Nigeria bans travellers from India, Brazil, Turkey over COVID-19 fears

In picture above: A woman wears a protective face mask due to the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Murtala Mohammed International airport in Lagos, Nigeria March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja

Nigeria will ban travellers coming from India, Brazil and Turkey because of concerns about the rampant spread of coronavirus in those countries, a presidential committee said on Sunday.

“Non-Nigerian passport holders and non-residents who visited Brazil, India or Turkey within Fourteen (14) days preceding travel to Nigeria, shall be denied entry into Nigeria,” Boss Mustapha, chairman of the presidential steering committee on COVID-19, said in a statement.

A family is seen in a line at the domestic wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on its reopening day for domestic flight operations, following the coronavirus disease outbreak, in Abuja, Nigeria, July 8, 2020.

The ban will take effect from May 4, the statement said.

Nigeria announced 43 confirmed new coronavirus cases on Saturday, bringing its total to 165,153, with 2,063 deaths.

Indian hospitals, morgues and crematoriums have been overwhelmed as the country has reported more than 300,000 daily cases for more than 10 days straight. Many families have been left on their own to find medicines and oxygen.

In Brazil, new coronavirus cases have fallen off a late-March peak, but remain high by historical standards. Total deaths in the country are second only to the United States.

Turkey imposed a nationwide “full lockdown” on Thursday, lasting until May 17, to curb a surge in coronavirus infections and deaths, with the world’s fourth highest number of cases and the worst on a per-capita basis among major nations.