The Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Ifedayo Adetifa says travel restrictions implemented by the Federal Government to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 achieved no public health benefit.
Adetifa, in a series of tweets on Sunday, added that the restrictions impacted negatively on individuals and businesses.
“Recent experience in Nigeria with the arrival of omicron showed travel restrictions did not have any public health benefits but were disruptive for persons and businesses. COVID-19 has and continues to follow a different course (epidemiology in Nigeria and most of Africa),” he said.
According to him, the Nigerian population is significantly protected from a combination of natural infection and vaccination.
Following a meeting of the NCDC COVID-19 National Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) held on Saturday, Adetifa said the EOC would continue to review the ongoing COVID-19 situation “over the coming week.”
“At the next review and if deemed necessary, a range of actions, not limited to enhanced surveillance of travellers at airports, may be implemented,” he added.
“We advise Nigerians to make use of every opportunity the Federal Government has provided via the @NphcdaNG to get vaccinated i.e., receive your primary vaccination which can be two or a single vaccine dose. If you have received two vaccine doses already, go get your booster.
“If you have received one booster dose already, please go get your second booster dose. If you belong in any of the high-risk categories (old age, etc), kindly ensure you adhere to recommended public health safety measures – mask use, hand hygiene and avoiding crowded spaces,” he said.
🧵1/n The @NCDCgov follows global COVID-19 epidemiology including genomics data as part of the ongoing pandemic response. The NCDC COVID-19 EOC continues to function at level 2 alertness – includes weekly risk assessments to inform the need for action e.g., travel restrictions.
— Ifedayo Adetifa (@IfedayoTiffy) January 1, 2023
