BREAKING: COVID-19: Nigeria Records First Case of Omicron Variant

The Nigerian government has said a case of the dangerous Omicron variant of coronavirus has been recorded in the country.

Accoridng to Nigeria Centre for Disease Centre (NCDC), the Omicron variant was identified in two travellers from South Africa last week through genomic sequencing of positive samples by the centre

The public health agency said in line with the routine travel test required of all international travellers and Genomic sequencing at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) through Its National Reference Laboratory (NRL), Abuja, confirmed Nigeria’s first case of the Omicron variant, also known as the B.1.1.529 lineage.

The Director General of the NCDC, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, urged States to ensure strict compliance with preventive measures while ramping up sample collection and testing, especially with approved Antigen-based Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT).

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had labelled the new variant a Variant of Concern (VOC) after it was seen to be more transmissible with increased risk of re-infection.