Saudi Arabia cancels Hajj visits from Nigeria as it temporarily suspended flights from Nigeria due to the new coronavirus variant. They took the decision to prevent the further spread of the new virus after recording some cases.
It was released on Wednesday, 8th Dec that all incoming flights from Nigeria to Saudi Arabia have been suspended following the increasing cases of the new Coronavirus variant, Omicron. In a circular to all airlines operating in Saudi Arabia, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) in Saudi Arabia confirmed the flight suspension.
According to the circular, those exempted include people who have spent a period of not less than 14 days in another country from which they are allowed to come.
An official at Kano Airport confirmed to Daily Trust that a circular had been issued that lesser Hajj trips should be cancelled, due to the development.
“I think they are following suit the decision of other countries like UK to prevent against having the virus in the kingdom,” the source told the newspaper.
Omicron Variant of COVID-19 was detected in Nigeria bringing the total number of cases to 6 as reported by SaharaReporters.
A result that was confirmed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Tuesday.
According to a statement by Ifedayo Adetifa, the NCDC director-general, the new cases were detected in individuals with recent travel history to South Africa.
Meanwhile, the British High Commission had also on Sunday said it would pause making decisions on visitor visa applications from all red list countries including Nigeria.
A source reported that the Federal Government of Nigeria had rejected the ban imposed on Nigeria by UK and Canada over Omicron.
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