The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has finally confirmed the first two cases of the Omicron variant in the country.
The Director-General of NCDC, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, confirmed it via press statement on Wednesday.
The statement reads in part: “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.
“Genomic sequencing of positive cases from routine day two testing for travelers to Nigeria, identified two cases of Omicron variant among travelers 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”.
The NCDC also stated that the two patients are asymptomatic and contact tracing has begun.
The Omicron variant, a new strain of the coronavirus disease, was reported by South Africa and first detected in Botswana.