Johannesburg - Nigeria has recorded five new cases of the coronavirus (Covid-19) in the country and has as a result banned entry for travellers from 13 countries, CNN World reported.
"I regret to announce the confirmation of five new Covid-19 cases in Nigeria bringing the total confirmed cases to eight.
"We have intensified contact tracing for these cases to control the risk of spread and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is already supporting the response efforts," health minister, Osagie Ehanire, said.
He added that the cases were all from the United Kingdom and the United States, (US), which included four Nigerians (including a baby) and 1 American, who came into Nigeria by land and the first case not arriving by air.
The NCDC announced on its Twitter page that the banned countries included China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, the US, Norway, UK, Netherlands and Switzerland.
"Nigeria government is temporarily suspending all visas issued to nationals from these countries. Nigerians arriving from these countries will be subjected to supervised isolation for 14 days.
"Nigeria is also advising all Nigerians to avoid travel to these countries. These restrictions will come into effect from Friday for four weeks subject to review," Nigeria said on its official Twitter page.