The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has disclosed that no fewer than 60 Nigerians who were recently evacuated from Ukraine have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.
The NCDC’s data showed that barely 24 hours after making known the lowest daily figure ever recorded since the outbreak in 2020, two cases. Just a day after, it recorded 118 new infections.
The statistics show that the Nigerian returnees from Ukraine contributed to the surge, as they accounted for a total of 60 out of the whole amount.
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772 evacuees returned to Nigeria on March 4, 2022, through Max Air and Air Peace, following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia on February 24.
Since the invasion, there have been reported casualties from both countries, leading many residents of Ukraine, including Nigerians, to flee to neighbouring countries.
The Nigerian government had approved the release of $8.5 million for the prompt evacuation of at least 5,000 Nigerians fleeing the Russian-Ukrainian conflict zone to Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia.
Africa Today News, New York had earlier reported that the first batch of Nigerian evacuees from Ukraine had on Friday arrived Abuja.
The first bath of passengers, numbering about 450 from Romania, landed at the private jet terminal of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport by 7:10 am (WAT) via a Max Air flight on Friday. They are mostly students who fled Ukraine to Romania following Russia’s invasion of the Eastern European country.
They were received by government officials and are expected to undergo documentation after which they will head home and self-isolate in line with the COVID-19 protocols.
Africa Today News, New York can confirm that about four other bathes has since returned the country. The federal government had announced the sum of $100 each for each of the returnees to cushion the effects of the unplanned return.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK