The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed the presence of the Omicron COVID-19 variant in the country.
According to NCDC Director-General Ifedayo Adetifa, the variant was discovered in two Nigerians who arrived in the country last week.
South Africa was the first to report the Omicron variant, a new strain of the coronavirus disease.
Following the discovery in South Africa, the NCDC stated that there was no case in Nigeria, but that proper monitoring would be carried out.
On Tuesday, the Canadian government announced that it had discovered two cases of the variant in two passengers arriving from Nigeria.
However, the Federal Government, through the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, stated that it was investigating the issue to obtain more information.
However, the NCDC confirmed on Wednesday morning that the two cases were discovered and linked to two South African passengers.
“In line with the routine travel tests required of all international travelers 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.
“Retrospective sequencing of previously confirmed cases among travelers to Nigeria also identified the omicron variant among samples collected in October 2021”.the statement read.
