Nigeria has joined the growing list of countries that have confirmed cases of the new COVID-19 variant called Omicron.
The Omicron variant was identified in two travellers from South Africa last week through genomic sequencing of positive samples by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
The World Health Organisation (WHO) had labelled the new variant a Variant of Concern (VOC) after it was seen to be more transmissible with increased risk of re-infection.
The Director General of the NCDC, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, urged States to ensure strict compliance with preventive measures while ramping up sample collection and testing, especially with approved Antigen-based Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT).
He also urged Nigerians to get vaccinated and adhere to the proven safety measures such as wearing face masks, regular hand washing and (or) Sanitizing with alcohol based sanitizers, and physical distancing.