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Nigeria Records 754 New COVID-19 Cases Amid Omicron Concerns

  Nigeria has reported 754 more COVID-19 cases on Thursday amid concerns over the new Omicron variant.  Advertisement In an update on its Facebook page, … Continue reading Nigeria Records 754 New COVID-19 Cases Amid Omicron Concerns


A health worker prepares to inoculate a private hospital staff with a Covid-19 vaccine in Hyderabad on January 28, 2021. Noah SEELAM / AFP
File photo: A health worker prepares to inoculate a private hospital staff with a Covid-19 vaccine in Hyderabad on January 28, 2021. Noah SEELAM / AFP
A health worker holding the COVID-19 vaccine.

 

Nigeria has reported 754 more COVID-19 cases on Thursday amid concerns over the new Omicron variant. 

In an update on its Facebook page, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said the new infections were recorded in 11 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Lagos, which has been the epicentre of the pandemic since its outbreak early last year, had the highest number of infected persons for the day under review.

The agency pegged it at 595 with the FCT having 68 cases.

Imo – 49 new infections, Edo – 3; Oyo – 9; Delta – 5; Katsina – 4; Kano – 3 and Plateau – 3 were among states with new cases.

Others are Ekiti – 2; Gombe – 2 and Rivers – 1 with Thursday’s new cases bringing the number of infected persons in the country to 215,918.

Of the figure, 207,619 have been discharged; 2,981 deaths were reported.


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‘Variants Of Concern’

A file photo of travellers at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

 

While no update was given about the variant of the new cases, Nigeria had earlier confirmed six infections of the Omicron strain.

Thursday’s cases, one of the highest daily infection rates in recent times, will be a source of concern to Nigerian authorities as debates continue over the travel ban imposed on the country by the UK and Canada in the wake of the new strain.

Worried by the new COVID-19 variant, authorities across Nigeria had raised alarm over a fourth wave of the disease.

Lagos State, which has been in the spotlight since COVID-19 was detected in the country, had recently rolled out a string of measures aimed at combating the disease.

Residents of the commercial centre are expected to get a safety clearance from the Lagos State Safety Commission for social events, Information Commission Gbenga Omotoso said while announcing the fresh measures.

Before the Lagos Government’s move, the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) had also issued a revised international travel protocol.

“This revised protocol is aimed at further reducing the risk of importation and exportation of COVID-19, especially the variants of concern,” the Chairman of the PSC and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, said.