The Council of the European Union has excluded Nigeria from the list of countries it is opening its borders to.
The EU according to its website is granting 15 countries entry. The countries from where visitors are allowed are Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay. China is subject to confirmation of reciprocity.
The council however recommended that residents of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican should be considered as EU residents for the purpose of the recommendation.
The council noted that the criteria for determining the countries for which the current travel restriction should be lifted was based on epidemiological situation and containment measures including physical distancing, as well as economic and social considerations.
It said, “The number of new COVID-19 cases over the last 14 days and per 100,000 inhabitants close to or below the EU average (as it stood on 15 June 2020); stable or decreasing trend of new cases over this period in comparison to the previous 14 days.
“Overall response to COVID-19 taking into account available information, including on aspects such as testing, surveillance, contact tracing, containment, treatment and reporting, as well as the reliability of the information and, if needed, the total average score for International Health Regulations.”
It promised to update the list every two weeks.
Yetunde Adegoke
