10 cases of Delta COVID variant detected in Nigeria, says NCDC

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says 10 cases of the Delta COVID-19 variant has been detected in Nigeria.

Chikwe Ihekweazu, NCDC director-general, represented by Elsie Ilori, director of disease surveillance department, said this at the ministerial briefing on COVID-19 in Abuja.

As of July 13, the variant has been detected in over 140 countries.

While giving an update on Nigeria’s COVID-19 situation, Ihekweazu said though progress has been made in response to the pandemic with the fast-paced development of diagnostic, therapeutic, and vaccines globally, variants of concern with increased transmissibility pose a threat.

“With sequencing efforts, we have detected 10 cases which are confirmed to be the Delta variant,” he said.

”We are working hard to ensure genomic surveillance of travelers’ samples and to scale up our genomic sequencing capacity.

“While doing this, we are scaling up our testing capability, by the rollout of rapid Diagnostic Test Kits (RTDs), in selected states nationwide.

“As we have mentioned before, we encourage congregate setting, such as hospitals, schools, workplaces, and correctional facilities, to take advantage of the WHO, approved RTDs kits to detect cases promptly.”

According to NAN, the NCDC director said the country’s positive rate based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test alone increased to 3.4 percent.

“This represents a rise compared to Test Positivity Rate (TPR), which was sustained for several weeks at around 1 percent in the country. In addition, last week five deaths were recorded,” he said.

“These figures must serve as a strong warning to be even more on our guard regarding reducing the risk of COVID-19 spread, especially considering the more transmissible Delta variants detected in the country.”

The DG said while the agency continues to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is also focusing on other infectious diseases.

“Our response to the cholera outbreak has continued and as at July 22, a total of 22,130 suspected cases and unfortunately 526 deaths, have been reported due to this illness in 18 states and the FCT,” he said.

“However, in the last two weeks, a decline in cases has been recorded and the Emergency Operations Centre, in collaboration with the Ministry of Water Resources, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and other partners, is continuing to coordinate a multi-sector response.”