FG Scraps PCR Tests for Fully Vaccinated Travelers
Fully vaccinated inbound travelers would no longer be required to take a pre-departure PCR COVID-19 test, the Federal Government said on Monday.
The FG said they would, however, be subjected to a rapid antigen test at the airport by the NCDC within the arrival hall of the airport free of charge.
The decision was coming after the complaints by many travelers over the cost placed on the PCR test.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Chairman, Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha disclosed this at the National briefing of the Committee in Abuja.
He added that passengers who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated are mandated to take a COVID-19 PCR test 48 hours before departure or do a Day 2 and day 7 test on arrival, noting that such passengers must pay for the tests.
Mustapha revealed that this directive would take effect from April 4.
He said, “The PSC has reviewed these situations around the world and applies such to the situation in Nigeria and have revised the International Travel Protocols, which should come into effect on Monday, 4th April 2022 as follows:
Inbound (fully vaccinated) passengers arriving in Nigeria will no longer be required to take a pre-departure PCR COVID-19 Test;
On arrival, for fully vaccinated passengers, a sample will be taken at the airport for rapid antigen test by the NCDC within the arrival hall of the airport. Read more
Boeing Faces Fresh Hurdle as China Grounds 109 Planes Over New Crash
Shares of U.S. planemaker, Boeing Corporation, and its suppliers fell yesterday, as a 737-800 aircraft of China Eastern Airlines, with 132 people on board, crashed in the mountains of southern China.
The plane crashed after a sudden descent from cruising altitude. The media reported that rescue workers had found no sign of survivors. The cause of the crash was not yet known. Boeing said it was working to gather more information.
The China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 was flying from Kunming to Guangzhou when it plunged to earth in Guangxi province and caught fire.
FlightRadar24 said the jet involved in the accident is six years old. Following the crash, Chinese state media said the airline had grounded its 737-800 fleet, which according to the flight tracking website, had 109 such planes.
The popular variant is a predecessor to Boeing’s 737 MAX, which awaits regulatory approval in China, the world’s largest domestic aviation market.
The 737-800 has a maximum seating capacity of 189 and is equipped with a CFM-56 engine, according to Boeing’s website.
It was not clear immediately if the aircraft involved in the accident had the same engine, as airlines are free to choose engines from other suppliers.
The CFM engines are made by a joint venture between General Electric Co. and France’s Safran SA. GE shares were down about one percent, while France-listed Safran fell three percent.
The planemaker’s shares fell 4.5 percent in early trading, while the Chinese airline’s U.S. listed ADRs were down about nine percent.
Parts suppliers Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc, Hexcel Corp, and Triumph Group Inc were down between one percent and four percent.
CFRA Research analyst Colin Scarola said the crash should not technically impact the MAX’s recertification in China where it has been grounded for three years following the two fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia.
But he did not rule out the country using the accident as an excuse to delay approval. “China likely would not admit this is what they are doing,” he said.
But we certainly think it could happen,” Scarola said. Chinese airlines generally have a good safety record – the last major accident took place 12 years ago.
The crash has caused shock in China, where President Xi Jinping has ordered an immediate investigation to determine the cause.
No Survivors Found in Crash of China Eastern Plane Carrying 132 People
Chinese president calls for an ‘all-out’ rescue operation, and an investigation into the crash, as airline grounds all more than 100 737-800s in its fleet
KUNMING, China (AP) — No survivors have been found as rescuers on Tuesday searched the scattered wreckage of a China Eastern plane carrying 132 people that crashed a day earlier on a wooded mountainside in China’s worst air disaster in more than a decade.
“Wreckage of the plane was found at the scene, but up until now, none of those aboard the plane with whom contact was lost have been found,” state broadcaster CCTV said, more than 20 hours after the Monday afternoon crash.
The Boeing 737-800 crashed near the city of Wuzhou in the Guangxi region while flying from Kunming in the southwestern province of Yunnan to the industrial center of Guangzhou along the east coast. It ignited a fire big enough to be seen on NASA satellite images.
The crash created a deep pit in the mountainside, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing rescuers. The report said drones and a manual search would be used to try to find the black boxes, which hold the flight data and cockpit voice recorders essential to crash investigations.
A base of operations was set up near the crash site with rescue vehicles, ambulances, and an emergency power supply truck parked in the narrow space. Soldiers in camouflage joined helmeted rescue workers in orange jumpsuits in combing the charred crash site and surrounding heavily dense vegetation.
The steepness of the slope made positioning of heavy equipment difficult, although, with few large pieces of the aircraft remaining, there appeared little need for their use.
China Eastern Flight 5735 was flying at 29,000 feet (8,840 meters) when it entered a steep, fast dive around 2:20 p.m. local time, according to data from FlightRadar24.com. The plane plunged to 7,400 feet (2,255 meters) before briefly regaining about 1,200 feet (370 meters) in altitude, then dove again. The plane stopped transmitting data 96 seconds after starting to dive.
The plane was carrying 123 passengers and nine crew members, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said. It was about an hour into the flight and nearing the point at which it would begin descending into Guangzhou when it pitched downward. Read more