Significance of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Tourism Business in Nigeria: Perspectives From Airports, Hotels, and Recreational Centres

Outbreak Of Coronavirus Pandemic

Coronavirus was initially identified in 1937 by the researchers. Meanwhile, coronavirus disease outbreak first occurred in Wuhan, China in 2019. Researchers opine that the virus transmits from the respiratory system through fluids. Hence, it is named COVID-19 by the experts typically affecting the respiratory tract. The symptoms are categorized into mild and severe symptoms including cough, sneezing, cold, fever and difficulty in breathing. Others comprise a sore throat, fatigue, diarrhea, muscle pain, loss of taste and vomiting. Children with the disease have mild or without symptoms. Those with a higher risk of severe its symptoms include pregnant women, older adults and people with underlying medical conditions such as cancer, lung and heart challenges, high blood pressure and diabetes (Guan et al., 2020; Liu et al., 2020).

In March 2020, World Health Organization (WHO) proclaimed it a pandemic due to the rapid spread of the disease worldwide. The organization disclose that transmission may occur when an individual sneezes or coughs without covering their mouth, thereby, discharging droplets containing the virus into the air. As a result, someone can contact through physical contact with a person who has the infection, touching a surface that contains the virus with hands, then touching mouth, nose, eyes, or handshakes with the same hand (Gössling, Scott & Hall, 2020; Moorthy et al., 2020).

The virus progresses as well as severe complications affecting body systems causing failure of multiple organs. The disease has since then responsible for millions of infections and death across the globe. Several measures are mapped out to curb the spread in order to reduce the risk of infection. The measures include regular washing of hands with soap under running water, application of hand sanitizers, wearing of nose mask and social distancing. Other measures entail self-isolation, establishment of public isolation centers, tests, vaccination and domestic, international and global lockdowns. In order to cushion the hard effect of the lockdowns on people, several governments distribute several palliatives are to their citizens. The outbreak of Delta and Omicron variants in 2021 further triggered the extent of the pandemic as the world was relaxing from the global lockdown. The effect in no doubt affect global movement, thereby disrupt local, domestic and international tourism businesses.