COVID-19: Nigeria announces 105 new infections, 3 omicron variant
The Centre warned that Nigeria was at risk of registering high incidences of the new variant due to neglect of preventive measures at airports and other points of entry in the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the 105 additional cases reported on Tuesday is an increase from the 21 cases reported in the country the previous day.
It said that the latest figures show that the country now have a total of 214,218 COVID-19 confirmed cases.
According to the agency, the fresh infections were recorded in eight states and the federal capital territory (FCT).
It stated that the new cases of COVID-19 were recorded as follows: Lagos (43), Gombe (21), FCT (16), Niger (10), Rivers (6), Plateau (5), Edo (2), Bauchi (1), and Kano (1).
The NCDC said that 12 people had recovered from the infection as of Tuesday, while the total number of discharged cases now stood at 207,304 nationwide.
It further said there was one COVID-19 fatality reported on Tuesday leaving the total fatality figure at 2,977.
The agency added that a total of 3,479,682 blood samples had been tested since the pandemic began across the country.
It said that the multi-sectoral national Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) activated at Level 2, would continue to coordinate the national response activities.
NAN recalls that since the emergence of the Omicron variant in the country, the Federal Ministry of Health through the NCDC had intensified public health response measures to COVID-19 in the country.
The national travel advisory has also been revised by the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 and now requires all inbound travelers to Nigeria to present a negative COVID-19 test result done not more than 48hrs before departure.
Pre-booking and payment for all day 2 and day 7 COVID-19 PCR tests are prerequisites for travel.
Also all outbound passengers regardless of the requirements of destination countries are expected to present evidence of full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 PCR test done not later than 48 hours before departure.
The government appealed to its citizens to adhere strictly to these travel protocols and other public safety measures.
It added that given the risk of increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant, it is essential to prevent community transmission.
The NCDC advised states to that sample collection and testing remained accessible, so that people who have symptoms or have been exposed to a positive case be tested quickly.
