Reduces quarantine to 8 days
By Abdullahi Muhammed
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Control of COVID-19 said Monday that airlines that fail to comply with international flight protocols would be fined $3,500 per passenger.
This was disclosed by the National Coordinator of Presidential Task Force, Dr Sani Aliyu, at a briefing in Abuja.
He said passengers on self-quarantine who fail to show up for a repeat of the PCR test would have his or her name on international watch list and electronic passport suspended.
He said the new protocols would be strictly applicable to passengers coming into Nigeria from foreign countries.
He said the Presidential Task Force had come to the conclusion that it would now be safe to shorten the isolation period for in-coming passengers from 14 days to eight days from August 29, 2020.
“From the 29th of August, travellers will be required to pay for their COVID-19 test in-country. We are developing a national payment portal, which will link to the current Lagos payment portal that is already activ. We will continue with the policy of ensuring that airlines only board passengers without symptoms of COVID-19 and with negative PCR result.
Airlines will be fined $3,500 per passenger if they fail to comply with pre-boarding COVID-19 requirements. On arrival in-country from the 29th of August, passports will no longer be retained by the Nigerian Immigration Service, rather, passengers will be allowed to proceed and exit the airport once they can show evidence of a negative COVID-19 PCR result, evidence of payment for a PCR result in-country and where possible and where we have been able to sort this health questionnaire form that has been submitted either manually or electronically.
“Passengers will be asked to proceed on self isolation at home for a period of seven days. On day seven, they will proceed to sample collection center or laboratory for a repeat COVID-19 PCR test. By day eight, if the PCR test is negative, they will be allowed to exit isolation.
“Based on a rigorous scientific review, the PTF has decided that it will be safe to shorten the current quarantine period or self isolation for passengers coming into the country from 14 days to eight days, provided they have a negative PCR test result from day seven.
“Passengers will be monitored by public health officers throughout the period of self-isolation, those who develop symptoms will be treated in the same way that we currently manage our COVID-19 positive patients,” he said.
He said the protocol that has just been approved would be reviewed after four weeks.“We will also be looking at the level of discrepancy between positive results with a view to developing a list of accredited laboratories for countries we frequently receive travelers from. In that regard, once we have a list of regulated laboratories, we would insist that all passengers use these centres for the test. All intended travelers to Nigeria must have tested negative for COVID-19 PCR before being allowed entry into the country.
“We are narrowing the period of validity of PCR test from the current 14 days to 7 days from 29th of August. Preferably, the PCR test should be done as close as possible to the point of departure for Nigeria, preferably from 48 to 72 hours, but we will still accept result that are valid for 7 days.