The Federal Government of Nigeria said yesterday that the country had been put on the alert over the new COVID-19 variant called Omicron.
Testing of reported COVID-19 cases and surveillance at all entry ports are on the rise to prevent the new variant of the virus in the country.
The Federal Government is expected to release today, its reviewed COVID-19 guidelines for inbound and outbound travelers, which will not exempt diplomats.
In addition, the results of some samples being sequenced for possible Omicron will be out.
Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire; Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Ifedayo Adetifa and Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) Faisal Shuaib, spoke on the new wave during the COVID-19 briefing by the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) in Abuja.
Ehanire said, ”We have always made it clear that we are not yet out of the woods and we are still required to be careful about our movements and our compliance with advisories.
“The focus suddenly came some days ago about a new variant that just appeared in Botswana and South Africa. It has created some anxiety all over the world and in Nigeria. We have taken measures to ensure that Nigeria is not in a dangerous situation.
“Federal Government is increasing measures of surveillance at our ports of entry and testing and trying to encourage all the participants to come on their toes.
“Vaccination can help us and the non-pharmaceutical interventions or public health measures which we have been preaching for a very long time and which we will not get tired of preaching.
“The B11529 Omicron variant can transmit very rapidly and easily, but up till now, thankfully not many fatalities have been recorded globally. The new variant has been seen in Europe, Hong Kong, and Canada.
“In Nigeria, the sequence has already started of all cases that are coming up. We received reports of a citizen of our country who tested positive in Canada. We are scaling up genomic sequencing.
“As far as preparation for the COVID-19 Omicron variant is concerned, we are adopting a watchful, waiting posture, in that we are looking very closely at all developments and watching the point of entry, particularly with a lot of alerts.”
