The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has officially confirmed that 60 Ukraine returnees have tested positive for COVID-19. ayokinews.com reports
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin, ordered a ‘special military operation’ in the separatist-held Donbas region of Ukraine, an order which was immediately followed with the invasion of the pro-Western country.
Many Ukrainian citizens, including Nigerians, have fled to neighboring countries since the invasion, with both waring countries reporting losses.
Following the invasion and its escalating events, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, approved the disbursement of $8.5 million to assist at least 5,000 Nigerians escaping the Russian-Ukrainian war zone to Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia.
Over 1000 Nigerians have been evacuated safely back to Nigeria by the federal government in the last few days.
On March 7, several of the returnees tested positive for coronavirus, according to the latest COVID-19 data from the NCDC.
“68 cases reported for FCT for 7th March 2022; 60 of the cases are returnees from Ukraine,” the report stated.
This is coming after the World Health Organization (WHO), warned that the Russia-Ukraine conflict might lead to wide COVID-19 spread being undetected.
Tedros Ghebreyesu, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), stated during a press conference that the organization is profoundly worried about the humanitarian crisis occurring in Ukraine.
“Low rates of testing since the start of the conflict mean there is likely to be significant undetected transmission,” Tedros said.
So far, Nigeria has recorded 254,777 COVID-19 cases, 249,209 discharges, and 3,142 fatalities.
