Coronavirus Pandemic
THE federal government is to evacuate 1,000 Nigerians that are stranded across the world this week. The Presidential Taskforce PTF on COVID-19, said over 4,000 Nigerians are stranded across the world following the global lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As at June 13, 1,523 Nigerians have been evacuated. Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation and chairman, PTF, said 500 evacuees would land in Abuja and the other 500 in Lagos. He said they will be coming in under the new evacuation protocol, which demands for a pre-evacuation test and 14- day self isolation on arrival against the former government -monitored isolation in hotels.
“In line with the revised protocols, the evacuation of Nigerians stranded abroad has resumed. Over the last weekend, we received Two hundred and sixty-nine from India while another one-hundred and two arrived from Egypt. All the evacuees tested negative before boarding the plane and would be re-tested within 72-hours of arrival in Nigeria.
“Last week, the Economic Sustainability Committee led by His Excellency the Vice President, submitted their report to Mr. President on how to address the post-COVID era. This underscores the plan that the Federal Government will continue to implement measures meant to safeguard the economy. The PTF will continue to be guided by the recommendations of the Committee in taking some of its far-reaching decisions, as was done on previous occasions.
“A lot has been published regarding the studies carried out on asymptomatic individuals and their contacts, to how many developed COVID-19 and the finding that such transmission was very rare. While we note the clarification of the WHO that the interpretation raised a number of questions on the implications of current preventive recommendations, the PTF shares the WHO’s position that Comprehensive studies on transmission from asymptomatic people are difficult to conduct but are needed to draw wider conclusions.
“Some modelling has tried to estimate the proportion of asymptomatic patients that may transmit and there is a big range depending on the models used, but some estimates are that 40% of transmission may be due to asymptomatic cases. The PTF shall remain cautious and shall adhere to already recommended measures (particularly, physical distancing, wearing of masks/coverings in public places, hand hygiene and cough etiquette), until we have more evidence to propose otherwise,” he said.
– Jun. 15, 2020 @ 18:09 GMT |
Tags: 000 Nigerians this week COVID-19: FG to evacuate 1
