The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Wednesday morning confirmed two cases (the first) of the Omicron variant in the country.
This was contained in a press release issued by the centre and signed by the Director-General, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa.
The Omicron variant, a new strain of COVID-19, was reported by South Africa and first detected in Botswana.
The NCDC on Wednesday morning said two cases of the variant were discovered through genomic sequencing. It linked the cases to two passengers from South Africa.
The statement reads in part, “In line with the routine travel tests required of all international travellers and genomic sequencing at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control through its National Reference Laboratory, Abuja, confirms Nigeria’s first case of the Omicron variant.
“Genomic sequencing of positive cases from routine day two testing for travellers to Nigeria identified two cases of Omicron variant among travellers from South Africa who arrived in Nigeria last week.
“Retrospective sequencing of previously confirmed cases among travelers to Nigeria also identified the omicron variant among samples collected in October 2021.”
