Coronavirus: Nigeria adds Sweden, Austria to travel ban list

Nigeria has announced that foreign travellers from Sweden and Austria will be restricted from entering the country as part of its efforts to contain a coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The government had announced similar travel restrictions against foreign travellers from 13 high-risk countries earlier on Wednesday, March 18, 2020.

All the affected countries have recorded at least 1,000 cases of coronavirus within their borders.

During a press briefing on Friday, March 20, the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, said Austria and Sweden have now been added to the list.

"We have identified two more high risks countries - Austria and Sweden which were added in the past 24 hours to the list," he said.

The other countries on the list are the United States, China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, Norway, United Kingdom, Netherlands and Switzerland.

Nigeria currently has 10 active cases of coronavirus which has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Most of the positive cases are of people with history of travel from high-risk countries.

The country's first two cases of coronavirus have recovered, with one already discharged and the other also set to be released if he tests negative a second time.

Since coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan, China in December 2019, over 250,000 people have been infected, and at least 10,000 killed around the world. More than 88,000 people have also recovered from the virus.