The Federal Ministry of Health and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) have urged Nigerians to ensure strict adherence to the public health and social measures in place inview of the advent of a new COVID-19 ( B.1.1.529) variant.

However the centre said the variant has so far not been detected in Nigeria In a statement issued by NCDC Director General Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, the Centre 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 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.

NCDC DG said that in order to reduce the risk of the importation or spread of the Omicron variant in Nigeria, Nigerians should 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.

It 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.

The statement said that WHO has also urged countries to enhance their surveillance and virus sequencing efforts to increase their understanding of the circulating variants.

Federal Ministry of Health and NCDC have also assured that they were monitoring emerging evidence on this new variant and its implication and to inform Nigeria’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The variant was first identified from testing done on 9th November 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 24 November 2021.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.