Federal Government of Nigeria has issued a travel ban on 13 countries over the spread of the Coronavirus.
This was announced at a press conference by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, who is also the Chair of the Presidential Task Force on the Coronavirus (PTF-COVID19) on March 17.
The affected countries are the United States of America, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, Iran, Switzerland, Norway, Netherland, France, South Korea, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Tolu Ogunlesi, special assistant to President Buhari on New Media in a series of tweets, also said;
I strongly advise the general public is strongl to cancel or postpone all non-essential travel – whether business or pleasure – abroad, especially to high-risk countries.
ALL official travel by public officials and civil servants is hereby banned until further notice. Approvals previously granted for such travel are accordingly rescinded.
He added that everyone traveling or returning to Nigeria from abroad is urged to strictly self-isolate for 14 days in their homes.
Ogunlesi explained that the federal government has also urged the general public to maintain social distancing and avoid crowded places, as the government will continue to follow all emerging scenarios and provide updates on a continuous basis.
He stated that these are all countries with over 1,000 cases domestically and the federal government is temporarily suspending all visas issued to nationals from these countries.
These restrictions will come into effect from Friday 20 March 2020 for 4 weeks, subject to review.
