By John Ikani
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Wednesday morning confirmed the first case of the Omicron variant in the country.
The centre in a statement issued by Director-General, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa said the cases were discovered through genomic sequencing.
They were linked to passengers from South Africa.
The statement reads in part, “In line with the routine travel tests required of all international travellers, genomic sequencing at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control through its National Reference Laboratory, Abuja, confirms Nigeria’s first case of the Omicron variant.
“Genomic sequencing of positive cases from routine day-two testing for travellers to Nigeria identified two cases of Omicron variant among travellers from South Africa who arrived in Nigeria last week.
“Retrospective sequencing of previously confirmed cases among travellers to Nigeria also identified the Omicron variant among samples collected in October 2021.”
The NCDC however added that the two patients were asymptomatic and contact tracing had begun.
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The Omicron variant is a new strain of the dreaded Covid-19 virus reported in Southern Africa and detected first in Botswana.
Following the discovery, countries such as the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Israel, among others placed travel bans on southern African countries.
According to Ugur Sahin, the CEO of COVID-19 vaccine-maker BioNTech, the Omicron variant could lead to more vaccinated people becoming infected.
It remains unclear where or when the variant first emerged. But nations have rushed to impose travel restrictions, especially on visitors coming from Southern Africa, despite the World Health Organization’s call for “rational” measures in response to the new strain.
