The Economic Community of West Africa States [ECOWAS] says there is no reported case of Omicron, the new COVID-19 variant in the region.
The sub-Saharan body in a disclosure on Monday said, “no cases of this variant have been identified yet in ECOWAS region to date.
The disclosure by ECOWAS came a day after Liberia, a country in the region release a Covid-19 protocol, notifying travellers from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Mozambique and Lesotho that they will be taken to Star Base Precautionary Observation Centre [POC] for seven days at a total cost of $40 per night including lodging and meals.
The Liberian notice that was issued in November 27 and effective from November 28, exempts diplomats and their families and honorary consuls, but not those from the above listed countries,
There is a global apprehension over the new variant following its declaration by the World Health Organization [WHO].
WHO on November 26, 2021, classified a new variant, B.1.1.529, as a Variant of Concern and has named it Omicron [32 to 43 spiking protein mutations compared to 18 for Delta].
The Variant was first reported by South Africa scientists who have openly communicated with the global scientific community.
As at date, not enough evidence on the widespread, transmissible, severity of illness and vaccine escapes for the Omicron variant.
The Covid-19 virus which is currently in its fourth wave with plethora of variants was first detected in Wuhan, a province in China in December 2019.
Currently the total global figured stand at 261,504,420, with a total death of 5,199,827, while 8,638,089 cases, 222.788 deaths representing 4.3 percent of global deaths have been recorded in Africa.
According to data from ECOWAS, the region has recorded 669,594 cases of COVID-19, 10,245 deaths, representing 1.53 percent of death rates, while 649, 920 have recovered from the virus.
The region has 7.8 percent of cases; 4.6 percent of deaths; 8.1 percent of recoveries; 2.6 percent of active cases on the continent.
Of the statistics in the ECOWAS region, Nigeria with 214,092 cases is the highest in the trading bloc. The country has reported 2,976 deaths which represent 1.39 percent of cases and 207,254 have recovered.
While Ghana is next with 130,920 cases,1 209 deaths and 129,042 recoveries. With 73,985 cases, 1,885 deaths, Senegal is in third place.
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guine-Bissau are countries with the least cases of COVID-19 in ECOWAS, with 5, 821, 6, 401 and 6, 440 cases respectively.
ECOWAS’ assurance is coming amid announcement on Sunday by the Canadian authorities that it has detected its first cases of the new strain of COVID-19 in two people who had travelled recently to Nigeria.
The Canadian authorities stated this in a statement after the government of Ontario confirmed that the two cases are in the capital, Ottawa.
Federal and Ontario provincial officials said both patients are in isolation while public health authorities trace their possible contacts.
“I was informed today by the Public Health Agency of Canada that testing and monitoring of COVID-19 cases has confirmed two cases of the Omicron variant of concern in Ontario.
“As the monitoring and testing continues, it is expected that other cases of this variant will be found in Canada,” he was quoted as saying by France24.com,, ” the Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said in a statement.
Meanwhile, in a swift reaction, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control [NCDC] says no case of the Omicron COVID-19 variant has been detected in Nigeria.
In a statement on Sunday, Ifedayo Adetifa, NCDC director-general, said the federal ministry of health [FMOH] and the NCDC are aware of reports of a new COVID-19 variant and are monitoring emerging evidence on this new variant and its implication, to inform Nigeria’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“While this variant has so far NOT been detected in Nigeria, a number of cases have now been reported in the UK, Israel, Botswana, Hong-Kong, Germany, Belgium, Italy and counting. However, no deaths have been attributed to this new variant yet,“ the statement reads.
“Given the high number of mutations present in the Omicron variant and the exponential rise in COVID-19 cases observed in South Africa, this virus is considered highly transmissible and may also present an increased risk of reinfection compared to other VOCs.
“This virus can still be detected with existing Polymerase Chain Reaction [PCR] tests. The WHO and researchers across the world are working at speed to gain understanding of the likely impact of this variant on the severity of COVID-19 and on the potency of existing vaccines and therapeutics,” the NCDC said.
Source: insidebusiness.ng
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