A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, and Human Rights Activist, Femi Falana, has called out the President Muhammadu Buhari Federal Government for failing to take urgent measures to protect Nigerians in the country from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in China, .
He therefore, called on the Nigerian government to impose mandatory Covid-19 tests for travellers coming to Nigeria from China, just like other serious countries have done.
Recall, that on December 28, 2022, it was reported that about 50 percent of the passengers on two flights arriving in Milan, Italy, from China, reportedly tested positive for Covid-19, and the Asian country is currently being ravaged by the pandemic.
While Italy and several other countries have since then imposed restrictions on passengers from China, Nigeria is yet to do anything about it, saying that there is no reason yet to impose restrictions on travellers arriving the country from China.
Falana’s statement in reaction, reads partly: “It is public knowledge that there has been a Covid-19 surge in China in the last few weeks.
“The Chinese authorities have been reporting about 5,000 cases a day. Some Analysts have said that the crisis has been underreported by the Chinese government.
“The development has compelled many countries to impose restrictions on passengers arriving from China. As usual, the Federal Government has not adopted any measure to prevent the spread of the dangerous disease through travellers arriving in Nigeria from China.
“In view of the rickety healthcare delivery system in the country, the Federal Government should as a matter of urgency, make it mandatory for passengers arriving in Nigeria from China to produce a negative Covid-19 test taken not more than two days prior to departure.
“A stitch in time saves nine, as they say. The government should not wait until the nation’s healthcare is overwhelmed by the pandemic before taking the necessary scientific steps to prevent another upsurge of coronavirus infection.”