The U.S Consulate General Public Affairs section in Lagos says, as of April 6, the U.S Department of State has repatriated, or helped to repatriate, over 44,000 U.S. citizens from 78 countries since January 29, 2020.
The statement is coming on the heels of the repatriation of 200 Americans today from the Lagos international airport by a US carrier, Delta airline Americans so far repatriated from Nigeria is now 585.
The countries were American citizens have been evacuated includes, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Bangladesh, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, China, Colombia, Congo (DRC), Cote d’Ivoire and Cyprus.
Others are, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua and Nigeria.
“North Macedonia, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, and Uzbekistan.”
According to the statement, the U.S. Mission to Nigeria is organizing evacuation flights for American citizens who desire to return to the United States, now that commercial flights are no longer available.
“The flights will depart from Lagos and Abuja. American citizens who have expressed a desire to depart on these flights are being contacted by our Consular staff. Bearing in mind, that space on the flights is limited, no one should come to the airport if they have not been contacted.”
“At our Embassies and Consulates overseas, our Consular teams are working tirelessly to identify transportation options for U.S. citizens seeing to return to the United States. Where commercial transportation options no longer exist, our teams are exploring all possible means to help Americans get home, including charter flights where appropriate.”
It encourages all U.S. citizens abroad to register with STEP. State.gov and monitor the relevant Embassy website to ensure they receive the most up to date information.
It adds that the United States is providing nearly $274 million to help dozens of countries to combat the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), furthering America’s commitment to humanitarian assistance and global health.
It noted that for Nigeria specifically, more than $7 million in health and humanitarian funding will go toward risk communication, water and sanitation activities, infection prevention, and coordination.
“This assistance joins more than $5.2 billion in U.S. health assistance and more than $8.1 billion in total assistance for Nigeria over the past 20 years.
The Consulate states that the U.S. CDC in Nigeria is working with PEPFAR Implementing Partners to leverage resources to help establish sample collection centers in one PEPFAR-supported facility per state; host emergency operation centers; and utilize PEPFAR-supported human resources and supplies to support COVID-19 testing labs.
“WHO is coordinating the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is on the ground in 149 countries. This broad-based effort would not be possible without U.S. support. The United States has been the largest supporter of the World Health Organization since its creation in 1948. U.S. contributions to WHO in 2019 exceeded $400 million, almost double the 2nd largest member state contribution. China, in contrast, contributed $44 million.”
“U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Tibor Nagy sent an email message to the 650,000 members of the YALI Network encouraging them to follow the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) safety guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to share how they are keeping their communities healthy. There are approximately 160,000 YALI Network members in Nigeria.”
Source: newsbulletinng.com
