By John Ikani
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said that the newly discovered SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern of the coronavirus infection – B.1.1.529 lineage, which has been named Omicron, has so far not been detected in the country.
The disease centre, however, warned Nigerians against losing guards, advising people to avoid visiting countries where cases have been reported.
Where is the new Covid variant?
Heritage Times gathered that no fewer than 15 countries around the world have confirmed cases of the new covid strain which was first detected in South Africa.
Neighbouring Botswana has confirmed at least 19, with countries including the UK banning travel from many countries in southern Africa.
Two cases have been confirmed in Israel with an additional 11 suspected. Yesterday at midnight, Israel closed its borders completely to foreigners. The country has also vowed to use counter-terrorism phone-tracking technology to combat the variant.
Japan has joined Israel in closing its borders to foreigners.
Australia, which has registered five cases of the new variant, has paused plans to reopen its borders to foreign nationals. The country had been due to allow skilled migrants and international students to enter from 1 December as long as they were vaccinated. The reopening will now be delayed by a fortnight.
The Czech Republic, Belgium and Italy have reported one case each, and Denmark and Canada confirmed two cases each. Austria and Germany have confirmed one each.
In the UK, nines case have been detected as of Monday morning. Three cases were detected in England. One of the first cases was linked to a primary school in Essex and another to a school in Nottingham. Six cases were confirmed in Scotland, where some were believed to have been transferred locally within the nation rather than coming from international travel.
In the Netherlands, 13 cases were detected after 61 passengers on two flights from South Africa to Amsterdam tested positive for Covid-19. The new variant was found in more than a fifth of the cases.
In Portugal, 13 cases of the new variant were found among players in the top-flight football club Belenenses SAD, one of whose players had recently returned from South Africa.
The cluster meant that the team had to play a match against Benfica with just nine players. The match was eventually abandoned when more Belenenses players dropped out, with Benfica winning 7-0.
