FG threatens stringent penalty for passengers without COVID-19 test

The federal government has announced more stringent punishment for airline passengers who fail to undergo COVID-19 testing after returning to the country.

Boss Mustapha, the chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 who announced the new measures, said the passports of the first 100 passengers who fail to undergo COVID-19 testing after returning to the country will be revealed publicly and the passports will also be suspended until June next year.

“With effect from 1st January 2021, the passports of the first 100 passengers that failed to take their day seven post-arrival PCR test will be published in the national dailies,” a local website quoted Boss Mustapha, the chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, as announcing in a briefing.

“The passports, as a deterrent, will also be suspended until June 2021,” he added.

The move comes as the country has been witnessing a second wave of the virus in recent weeks which has caused a spike in cases across the country, according to Nigerian officials.

In its latest update, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced 10 more COVID-19-related deaths and 397 new infections from tests conducted Monday.

To date 84,811 cases have been confirmed, 71,357 cases have been discharged and 1,264 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory,” the NCDC said.

The first cases of COVID-19 were reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019. However, Beijing has denied that China is the origin of the deadly disease, which has affected over 81.9 million people worldwide. More than 1.78 million people have died from the virus while over 46 million have recovered.