COVID-19: Falana calls for proactive measures as China battles surging cases
by Ebor Cletus Ralph Jr
Senior Advocate of Nigeria and human rights lawyer Femi Falana has urged the Federal Government to look into Chinese passengers’ COVID-19 status.
In a statement released on Sunday in Abuja, Falana urged the government not to put off necessary action until the country’s healthcare system was under strain.
He said, “It is public knowledge that there has been a COVID-19 surge in China in the last few weeks. The Chinese authorities have been reporting about 5,000 cases a day. Some analysts have said that the crisis has been underreported by the Chinese Government.
“The development has compelled many countries to impose restrictions on passengers arriving from China. As usual, the FG has not adopted any measure to prevent the spread of the dangerous disease through travellers arriving in Nigeria from China.
“In view of the rickety health care delivery system in the country the FG should, as a matter of urgency, make it mandatory for passengers arriving Nigeria from China to produce a negative COVID-19 test taken not more than two days prior to departure.
“A stitch in time saves nine, as they say. The government should not wait until the nation’s healthcare is overwhelmed by the pandemic before taking the necessary scientific steps to prevent another upsurge of coronavirus infection”.
More than a dozen nations have imposed travel restrictions due to China’s rise in Covid-19 cases, while Morocco has blocked all travellers from China.
Three years after the coronavirus first appeared in the city of Wuhan, Beijing quickly started to dismantle its “zero-Covid” containment strategy of lockdowns and mass testing in December 2022.
Officials have declared that the wave of Covid-19 infections, which is overrunning Chinese hospitals and crematoriums, is “under control” despite admitting that it is “difficult” to trace their full scope.
Canada, the US, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan have recently imposed a negative Covid test requirement or testing upon arrival for tourists from China.
