The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed three additional cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant in Nigeria.
According to a statement by Ifedayo Adetifa, NCDC director-general on Tuesday, the new cases were detected in individuals with recent travel history to South Africa.
The announcement comes days after the NCDC announced the detection of three cases of the new variant.
“The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed three (3) more cases of COVID-19 with the B.1.1.529 SARS-CoV-2 lineage, i.e., the Omicron variant, in Nigeria. In addition to the three cases announced earlier on 1st December 2021, this brings the total number of confirmed cases of the Omicron variant detected in Nigeria to six (6),” the statement reads.
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“All the Omicron cases so far were detected in persons with recent travel history to South Africa in November.
“The NCDC through the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) continues to coordinate genomic surveillance activities across the country to sequence all positive COVID-19 samples from international travellers arriving in Nigeria. This includes sequencing of positive samples from international travellers from October 2021 to date.”
The agency said it had been notified by the UK government of seven cases of travellers from Nigeria who tested positive for the variant.
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“In line with Article 44 of the International Health Regulations 2005 (IHR) reporting framework, the Federal Government of Nigeria through the NCDC has also been notified by the UK Government of seven (7) cases of travellers from Nigeria with the Omicron variant,” the statement reads.
“Given the reports of increasing numbers of Omicron cases in the UK, the NCDC is also prioritising the sequencing of COVID-19 positive samples in travellers with history of travel to the UK.”
The UK recently banned travellers from Nigeria over the Omicron variant.
The Nigerian government condemned the ban, describing it as ”discriminatory”.
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