The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said that nine people have died since the detection of the Omicron variant in the country after testing positive for COVID-19.
The Omicron variant comes amidst a race to get booster jabs into arms as quickly as possible, with an early study by Imperial College London having suggested that a third vaccine dose could offer around 85 per cent protection against severe illness with Omicron.
The centre made this known on Friday morning while noting the nation has recorded 1,940 new cases of COVID-19 in 18 States and the FCT on Thursday.
Nigeria on Wednesday recorded 4,000. The NCDC said no deaths were reported for Thursday.
The centre said Lagos reported 845, while the FCT recorded 734 cases.
For the FCT, The centre said, the number include backlog of cases for Wednesday.Others are Oyo-120, Rivers-69, Delta-30, Kaduna-29, Edo-21, Plateau-20, Gombe-14, Anambra-11, Enugu-11, Osun-10, Ekiti-8, Kano-5, Bayelsa-4, Ogun-4, Katsina-3, Bauchi-1, Jigawa-1.
These latest figures, the centre said, brings the total number of confirmed cases to 233,353 with 212,040 discharged and 2,991 COVID-related deaths.
The NCDC said 3,751,696 people have been tested since the virus was announced on Feb. 27, 2020.
Two preliminary studies published on Wednesday by Imperial and the University of Edinburgh, found that those infected with the Omicron variant were 40 to 70 per cent less likely to be admitted to hospital than with Delta.
Experts said it remains unclear whether Omicron is innately less virulent than its predecessors or merely appears so because of the high levels of immunity in the population, health officials warned that a reduction in severity could be cancelled out by the “alarming” rate at which Omicron is spreading.
The Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 has appealed to Nigerians to imbibe the culture of citizen’s responsibility and observe the following safety measures to reduce community transmission of COVID- 19 during the festive period:
“Avoid activities that involve mass gathering especially in enclosed spaces, as follows; Families are advised to limit the number of visitors to their homes and put in place precautionary safety measures;
“Any gathering in excess of 50 people should be done in open spaces with physical distancing;
“Indoor religious congregation should be limited to 50 per cent capacity with full compliance to public health social measures; and Face masks and hand sanitizers should be used at all times regardless of vaccination status while in public spaces;
“Avoid non-essential interstate travel at this period as this increases the risk of spreading infection from one place to another. People who intend to travel are encouraged to take a rapid COVID-19 test to confirm status as many infected persons are asymptomatic;
“ Ensure that you have taken the full dose of COVID-19 vaccination including the booster dose to reduce your risk of severe infection and death in case of exposure to COVID-19; and
“Seize the opportunity provided by the mass-vaccination campaign to ensure that your family and loved ones receive their COVID-19 vaccines including the 3rd dose (booster shot) at the nearest vaccination centre,” the PSC outlined.
