The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, on Tuesday confirmed additional three more cases of COVID-19 with the B.1.1.529 SARS-CoV-2 lineage, the Omicron variant, in Nigeria.
This brings the total number of confirmed cases of the Omicron variant detected in Nigeria to six .
All the Omicron cases so far were detected in persons with recent travel history to South Africa in November.
In press statement made available to Journalists, the Director General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa said the NCDC through the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) continues to coordinate genomic surveillance activities across the country to sequence all positive COVID-19 samples from international travellers arriving in Nigeria.
This includes sequencing of positive samples from international travellers from October 2021 to date. The Delta variant remains the dominant variant and so far, we have not seen the replacement of this variant by the new Omicron variant as observed elsewhere.
He explained that the Omicron variant is a source of global concern because of its increased risk of transmissibility and its potential to escape protective immune responses induced by natural infection and/or vaccination.
“Taken together, and if true, the Omicron variant can significantly change the current global COVID-19 epidemiology. There is currently no evidence of generalised or community transmission of this variant in Nigeria.”
He said the NCDC will continue coordinating and implementing genomic surveillance activities in- country to keep Nigerians reliably informed about existing variants, the Omicron and indeed other variants that may arise based on national data and emerging global evidence.
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It is well
God help us
Dem never see omicorn, na cron dem see. Naija