Nigeria adds South Africa to its COVID-19 ‘red list’ for arriving travellers

ABUJA (Reuters) -Nigeria is adding South Africa to its “red list” of countries for which there are stringent restrictions for arriving passengers, officials said during a briefing on Monday.

Nigeria is introducing the restrictions due to the spread of the Delta variant in South Africa, Chikwe Ihekweazu, the head of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, said. The country joins India, Brazil and Turkey on the list.

“In Nigeria, we haven’t found the Delta variant yet,” Ihekweazu said during the briefing.

Non-Nigerian passport holders and non-residents who visited the countries on the list within 14 days are barred entry from Nigeria, while passport holders and residents must undergo a seven-day quarantine in a government-approved facility at cost to the passenger.

They are also required to take COVID-19 tests within 24 hours or arrival and after seven days in quarantine.

At the briefing, Faisal Shuaib, the head of the country’s National Primary Health Care Development Agency, said Nigeria is expecting an additional 3.924 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine from the COVAX scheme by August 2021, and 29.85 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine through the African Union by September.

Nigeria received 3.92 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine via COVAX in March, and has thus far administered 3.44 million shots. It is expected to exhaust the current COVAX supply before the end of July.

(Reporting by Felix Onuah and Libby George; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Steve Orlofsky)