The Nigeria Centre for
Disease Control (NCDC) says no case of the Omicron COVID-19 variant has been
detected in Nigeria.
In a statement on Sunday,
Ifedayo Adetifa, NCDC director-general, said the federal ministry of health
(FMOH) and the NCDC are aware of reports of a new COVID-19 variant and are
monitoring emerging evidence on this new variant and its implication, to inform
Nigeria’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“While this variant has so
far NOT been detected in Nigeria, a number of cases have now been reported in
the UK, Israel, Botswana, Hong-Kong, Germany, Belgium, Italy and counting.
However, no deaths have been attributed to this new variant yet,“ the statement
reads.
“Given the high number of
mutations present in the Omicron variant and the exponential rise in COVID-19
cases observed in South Africa, this virus is considered highly transmissible
and may also present an increased risk of reinfection compared to other VOCs.”
He, however, said the fears
about the variant’s ability to evade protective immune responses and/or its
being vaccine resistant are only theoretical so far.
“This virus can still be
detected with existing Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests. The WHO and
researchers across the world are working at speed to gain understanding of the
likely impact of this variant on the severity of COVID-19 and on the potency of
existing vaccines and therapeutics,” he said.
Adetifa said the agency will
continue to ensure daily review of surveillance data for public health decision
making, and he appealed to all states to ensure that sample collection and
testing are accessible.
He said the the NCDC, through
the National Reference Laboratory (NRL), will continue to coordinate genomic
surveillance and other activities required for the detection of variants.
“In collaboration with Port
Health Services of the FMOH, enhanced surveillance is ongoing at the airports
and points of entry, and to ensure compliance with current travel guidance,
especially for the day 2 COVID-19 PCR testing,” he said.
“Should there be any changes
to travel guidance, this will be communicated in due course.
“Considering the highly
likely increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant and its emergence that
is linked to unmitigated community transmission of the virus, the NCDC urges
Nigerians to ensure strict adherence to the proven public health and social
measures in place, which are enforceable by the Presidential Steering Committee
on COVID-19 (PSC-COVID-19), through the COVID-19 Health Protection Regulations
2021.”
The index case of Omicron was
detected in South Africa on Tuesday, and the World Health Organisation (WHO)
subsequently designated Omicron as a “variant of concern”, calling on global
leaders to take action to contain its spread.
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