As Canada reports variant in two people who recently travelled to Nigeria
The federal ministry of health and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) have said that the new COVID-19 called Omicron has so far not been detected in the country but urged Nigerians to ensure strict adherence to the public health and social distancing measures already put in place.
The variant was first identified from testing done on November 9, 2021 in Botswana on travellers from West Africa.
It was reported to WHO on identification of cases among a cluster of young unvaccinated people in South Africa on November 24, 2021.
In a statement by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), its director general, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa said: “We are aware of reports of a new COVID-19 variant – the B.1.1.529 lineage. This SARS-CoV-2 variant has now been designated a variant of concern (VOC) and named; Omicron by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as advised by the independent Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-VE).
“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,″ he said.
To reduce the risk of the importation or spread of the Omicron variant in Nigeria, Adetifa urged the citizens to make every use of the currently available opportunities to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
He said members of public should adhere to public health and social measures that have been proven to help prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection regardless of the circulating variant.
These include: wearing face masks especially in crowded settings, washing hands regularly, physical distancing and ensuring good ventilation. Others are avoiding travel to countries where there is a surge in COVID-19 cases or reported cases of the Omicron variant and avoiding all non-essential travel both local and international.
The centre said the virus is more likely to spread where people gather and do not adhere to these measures.
He appealed to business owners, religious leaders, and people in authority to take responsibility by ensuring people in their premises wear masks and adhere to physical distancing.
“If you must travel, please adhere to travel protocols instituted by the PSC-COVID-19 which are in place to prevent the risk of importation of the virus or its variants to Nigeria,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Canadian authorities said the Omicron variant were reported in two people who recently travelled to Nigeria.
“Today, the province of Ontario has confirmed two cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Ottawa, both of which were reported in individuals with recent travel from Nigeria. Ottawa Public Health is conducting case and contact management and the patients are in isolation,” said the provincial authority in a statement.
