The Federal Government on Tuesday said it was alarmed by the ongoing COVID-19 surge in China but insisted that it would not impose restrictions on travellers from the Asian country. The Coordinator and Technical Head of the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, Dr Muktar Muhammad, who stated this in an interview in Abuja, said cases of the virus have not increased in the country.

Explaining the need for Nigerians to be on the alert, he said, “There is a cause for alarm for us; I mean the technical team, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, the Federal Ministry of Health, the port health, everybody is vigilant in that direction, but for the general public, we do not have any red alert to warrant us to issue any restriction.” There have been reports of an increase in COVID-19 cases in China after the country abandoned strict rules to contain the spread of the virus.

Countries like Italy, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, India, Malaysia, Israel, Qatar, Taiwan, Spain, and Morocco have imposed fresh travel restrictions on travellers from China. The World Health Organisation had last Friday met with high-level officials from China’s National Health Commission and the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration about the current surge in COVID-19 cases, to seek further information on the situation, and to offer its expertise and further support.