According to him, Nigeria recorded just two new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, giving the nation a total of 167,467 confirmed cases as at Monday, out of 2,266,591 samples tested, with a test positivity rate of one percent.
“Nigeria has so far escaped the worst of COVID-19 and the dire predictions made about us. We may even seem to be doing well, but I wish to emphasize that we must still be on strict preventive alert, because of the COVID-19 third wave that is sweeping across the globe. Cases have been rising in one African country after the other and health systems are getting stressed in countries like Uganda,” Ehanire said.
According to him, the protocol appears to be targeted at only Nigerians as it was discriminatory and not backed up scientifically.
He also said that Dubai is insisting that all passengers intending to visit its country must use Emirates Airline or spend two weeks in the alternative carrier’s country before gaining entrance to Dubai.
He, however, said talks were ongoing to resolve the matter.
“Emirate in particular and other airlines including KLM gave us some conditions that were not acceptable to us because they don’t make scientific sense. After review, some of the airlines, especially KLM, saw sense with what Nigeria presented which is that you can do the test 48 to 72 hours before you leave and do another test on arrival.
The Federal Government, through the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on Covid-19, has announced the extension of the ban on flights from Brazil, Turkey and India by 4 weeks.
This follows the Federal Government’s review of the earlier ban on flights from these countries and the decision for extension of the restriction in order to help stop the possible importation of different and dangerous variants of the Covid-19 pandemic that are still prevalent in these countries.
This disclosure was made by the Chairman of PSC on Covid-19, who also doubles as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, at the national briefing of the committee on Monday in Abuja, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
The Federal Government has revealed the reason Nigeria is yet to resume international flight operations to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The government, in its update, said that flights to the UAE were yet to restart due to the discriminatory nature of protocols introduced by the Emirati authorities.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, made this disclosure during the briefing by the Presidential Steering Committee on Covid-19, on Monday, June 28, 2021, in Abuja.
Sirika, who said that the protocol appeared to be targeted at only Nigerians, added that it was discriminatory and not backed up scientifically.
He explained that UAE insisted that all passengers intending to visit its country must use Emirates Airline or spend 2 weeks in the alternative carrier’s country before gaining entrance to Dubai.