MON, MARCH 16 2020-theG&BJournal- The Director General of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Chikwe Ihekweazu is out of self-isolation following his trip to China and was in the team that briefed the country today on Nigeria’s COVID-19 response and preparedness in company of the Minister of State for Health, Adeleke Momora.
Momora confirmed that the woman in her early 70s who returned from the UK has tested negative. He told the press that Nigeria will continue intensive self-isolation but the situation on ground does not make it necessary for travel ban to be imposed.
‘’But if there are changes to the situation Nigeria will review its position,’’ Momora said.
Nigeria has continued to strengthen its preparedness state, including additional measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The additional measures include strengthening contact tracing, stockpiling reagents and PPEs and increasing testing capacity through addition of two laboratories in Abakiliki and Maiduguri.
‘’To reduce the risk of importation of COVID-19, our first line of defence is the point of entry at the international airports,’’ the Minister of Health Dr E.O Ehanire said Sunday.
As at 16 March 2020, no new case or cases have been confirmed in the country and death.
Elsewhere, the total tally of the Pandemic has continued in ascendancy with as much as 3000 cases now reported outside China where it was first recorded. To date, 170, 002 cases are confirmed worldwide with 6,523 deaths and on the positive side, 77,778 have recovered.
World leaders and Central Banks are stepping up their response packages. The U.S Sunday launched quantitative easing with $700 billion in assets purchases and cut rates to zero to stem investors fright. Last week The EBRD has unveiled an emergency €1 billion “Solidarity Package” of measures to help companies across its regions deal with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Some of the biggest losses are seen by the airlines compounded by the recent U.S government’s ban of non-US citizens, and individuals who are not legal permanent residents of the US, who have been in the Schengen Area in the past 14 days from entry into the United States.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said the US measures will add to this financial pressure. The total value of the US-Schengen market in 2019 was $20.6 billion. The markets facing the heaviest impact are US-Germany ($4 billion), US-France ($3.5 billion) and US-Italy ($2.9 billion).
IATA noted that in 2019, there was a total of around 200,000 flights scheduled between the United States and the Schengen Area, equivalent to around 550 flights per day. There were around 46 million passengers (roughly equivalent to 125,000 travelers every day). On 5 March 2020, IATA estimated that the crisis could wipe out some $113 billion of revenue.
‘’Suspending travel on such a broad scale will create negative consequences across the economy. Governments must recognize this and be ready to support,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO in a press statement last week.
The World Health Organization (WHO) continues to advise against the application of travel or trade restrictions to countries experiencing outbreaks. On 29 February 2020 the WHO issued revised guidance which included the following:
“Travel measures that significantly interfere with international traffic may only be justified at the beginning of an outbreak, as they may allow countries to gain time, even if only a few days, to rapidly implement effective preparedness measures. Such restrictions must be based on a careful risk assessment, be proportionate to the public health risk, be short in duration, and be reconsidered regularly as the situation evolves.”
“We urge the US and other governments that have placed travel restrictions to follow the WHO guidance. This is fast evolving. Health and safety are the top priorities for governments and the air transport sector. But the effectiveness and necessity of travel restrictions must be continuously reviewed,” said de Juniac.
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