Posted on: Mon 29-11-2021

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed that the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, was yet to be detected in Nigeria as at Sunday, 28th November, 2021.

However, the Centre said it will continue to coordinate genomic surveillance and other activities required for the detection of variants through its National Reference Laboratory (NRL).

It also assumed that the global spread of the variant has occurred, hence it’s prioritising sequencing of recently accrued samples from SARS-COV-2 positive travellers from all countries, especially those from countries that have reported the Omicron variant already.

NCDC Director General, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, in a statement on Monday, said, “while Omicron variant has so far not been detected in Nigeria, a number of cases have now been reported in the UK, Israel, Botswana, Hong Kong, Germany, Belgium, Italy and counting.

“No death has been attributed to this new variant yet but a total of 126 genomes of this variant have been detected globally and published on GISAID which is a global mechanism for sharing sequencing data.”

He said the Federal Ministry of Health and NCDC are aware of reports of this new COVID-19 variant–the B.1.1.529 lineage. This variant has now been designated a variant of concern 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).

Dr. Adetifa said that WHO has also urged countries to enhance their surveillance and virus sequencing efforts to increase their understanding of the circulating variants. “Howbeit, we are monitoring emerging evidences on this new variant and its implication, to inform Nigeria’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

He added: “But given the high number of mutations present in this Omicron variant and the exponential rise in COVID-19 cases observed in South Africa, the virus is considered highly transmissible and may also present an increased risk of reinfection compared to other variants of concern.”

He explained that the fears about the ability of the omicron variant to evade protective immune responses or it’s being vaccine resistant are only theoretical so far, insisting that the virus can still be detected with existing Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests.

The NCDC boss further confirmed that WHO and researchers across the

world are working at speed to gain more knowledge and understanding of the likely impact of the variant on the severity of COVID-19, and on the potency of existing vaccines and therapeutics.

Nevertheless, he said that NCDC will continue to ensure daily review of surveillance data, and uses same to inform public health decision making.

He, therefore, urged all states to ensure that sample collection and testing are accessible, so that travellers, especially people with symptoms or who might have been exposed to COVID-19 cases get tested promptly.

He added that NCDC in collaboration with Port Health Services of the Federal Ministry of Health, have enhanced

surveillance at airports and other points of entry, to ensure compliance with current travel guidance especially for the day two COVID-19 PCR testing. “Should there be changes to travel guidance, this will be communicated in due course.”

But 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 urged 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.

It reminded Nigerians that they are collectively responsible for their own health security including playing their part to reduce the risk of the importation or spread of the Omicron variant in Nigeria.

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