Nigeria To Tighten Borders Against New COVID-19 Variant

The Nigerian Government says it will tighten its border to guard the country against the new variant of COVID-19.

Chairman, Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 in the country, Boss Mustapha said this in Abuja, Nigeria at the National joint Media briefing.

He said the Delta variant which has wrecked devastating havoc, is not yet found in Nigeria hence the need to tighten the borders and be more vigilant.

” Few weeks ago, we announced additional measures to be met by passengers arriving from Brazil, Turkey and India. This action was due to the prevalence of variants of concern and the dangers associated with importation of such virulent strain. The PSC has been reviewing these restrictions and is of the opinion that they should remain for another four (4) weeks before it is further reviewed. South Africa, has however, been added to this category once more”.

“In addition to these three countries, the PSC has also shifted its focus on some African countries. South Africa, Zambia, Rwanda, Namibia and Uganda fall in this category. South Africa for example, recorded over 100, 000 cases in the last one week while 20,000 was recorded in the last 24 hours,” he noted.

According to him, the four major variants of concern are now classified as Alpha (United Kingdom), Beta (South Africa); Gamma (Brazil) and Delta (India).