By Asmau Ahmad
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has reported 29 new COVID-19 infections recorded across five states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
NCDC in an update released on Sunday morning noted that the latest report represents cumulative data for cases recorded in one week, from 7 to 13 January.
The report shows that while the fatality toll remains at 3,155, the newly confirmed cases have increased the country’s infection toll to 259,858 cases.
As of 10 January, Nigeria had tested 5,708,974 samples and discharged 259,850 patients, according to the NCDC Director-General, Ifedayo Adetifa, who confirmed at a press conference in Abuja that the centre is on red alert following global concerns about new strains of the pandemic.
The disease control centre recently warned about the resurgence of coronavirus in China and the increase in hospitalisation and death in the UK and the USA, driven by the usual winter exacerbations of respiratory illnesses.
New variants not in Nigeria
The NCDC reported that countries such as China, the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), South Africa and India, are currently battling with the rise in Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant and its lineages, dominating recorded infections worldwide.
NCDC, however, said the sub-lineages that are partly responsible for the current increase in COVID-19 cases in these countries (XBB.1.5 and BF.7) have not yet been detected in Nigeria, noting that “the B.5.2.1 has been seen since July 2022 and the others are most likely here already.”
It further noted that since the detection of the Omicron variant in December 2021, its sub-lineage (BQ.1/BQ.1.1) has been dominant in Nigeria, but “none of these dominant sub-lineages in Nigeria that are also circulating elsewhere has been associated with any increases in case numbers, admissions, or deaths locally.”
Breakdown
The breakdown of the NCDC data shows that Lagos State, the epicentre of the disease in the country, topped with 15 infections, followed by the FCT and Kwara state with five and four cases respectively.
While Nasarawa State recorded three infections, Kaduna and Plateau States recorded one case each.
The disease control centre added that the “multi-sectoral national emergency operations centre (EOC), activated at Level 2, continues to coordinate the national response activities.”
