No Omicron-related death in Nigeria yet, says NCDC

The Nigeria Center for Disease Control has said that no people in Nigeria have died of COVID-19, with the B.1.1.1.529 SARS-CoV-2 lineage, Omicron type, varying across the country.

Director General of NCDC Dr. Efedayo Aditifa gave this information to the journalists in Abuja on Friday.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that data from the African Union shows that the Omicron version of the coronavirus is spreading rapidly across the African continent.

The AU’s Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said as of Thursday that 22 countries have reported the presence of the Omicron variant.

“We can clearly see that the omicron is spreading very quickly,” said the CDC’s John Nkengasong.

About a month after South Africa first discovered the more infectious type, it has now been traced to Egypt, Togo, Morocco, Kenya, Mauritius and Burkina Faso.

Nkengsong said there are grounds for optimism, pointing to early findings from South Africa that Omicron presented an 80 percent lower risk of serious disease than the delta version.

However, he cautioned against applying these initial findings to other countries.

Across Africa, 253,000 new coronavirus infections were recorded last week, a 21 percent increase from the previous week.

Adetifa noted that Omicron has increased the number of confirmed cases in the country to 500 percent, and has now become the dominant form in the country.

The NCDC boss said the country has now identified 45 more cases of the Omron variant, taking the total number of confirmed infections to 51.

He added that the 45 additional Omicron variants were not cases of travel history, but were in the country, which suggests that the country is already experiencing a community transmission.

He said that six cases of omicron had been detected in individuals with a history of recent travel to South Africa.

Aditifa stressed that it is important for Nigerians to maintain physical distance and avoid contact with anyone showing signs of respiratory illness.

“We are counting on you #CelebrateResponsibility and #TakeResponsibility to keep yourself and your loved ones safe from COVID-19,” he urged.

He advised Nigerians that further measures to prevent the spread of omicrons were to reduce group size, increase physical distancing, reduce the duration of contacts, and close high-risk premises.

He noted that indoor mixing was the “biggest risk factor” for Omicron’s spread and that large gatherings ran the risk of creating “multiple spreading events.”

Adetifa stressed that Nigerians should heed the advice issued by the President’s Steering Committee on COVID-19, saying it would greatly reduce the effectiveness of such interventions and that it is less likely that these health And will prevent considerable pressure on care settings.

(NAN)

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