Special to USAfrica magazine (Houston) and USAfricaonline.com, first Africa-owned, US-based newspaper published on the Internet.
COVID ALERT! Britain orders flight arrivals from Nigeria will have to quarantine
USAfrica, Houston: As the COVID-19 variant known as Omicron continues it fast spread, Britain will require all inbound travelers to take and show pre-departure COVID-19 test.
Also, arrivals from Nigeria will quarantine in hotels to slow the spread of the Omicron variant. The health ministry stated that it has data which show the vast majority of cases in Britain involve mainly travelers from Nigeria and South Africa into Britain. Hence, it will add Nigeria to its “red list” at 0400 GMT on Monday December 6, 2021.
Britain’s Health minister Sajid Javid said on December 4, 2021 “We’ve kept the data under review over the last week or so since we learned about Omicron, and we’re seeing increasing number of cases linked to travel…. We’ve always said we will act swiftly if we need to… and that’s why we decided to bring in this change on pre-departure tests.”
Javid confirmed that the new rules on that aspect will take effect from 4 a.m. London time on Tuesday December 7, 2021.
“In light of the most recent data, we are taking further action to slow the incursion of the omicron variant,” following confirmation that
Omicron cases has impacted 160 persons, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
Consequently, all inbound travelers are required to take a PCR or a rapid lateral flow test — a maximum of 48 hours before departure.
Meanwhile, USAfricaonline.com has learned that the British Airways which makes a lot of money from Nigeria and the entire southern Africa region, has described these latest decision as a “devastating blow” to BA and the travel industry.
