Published 20:02 IST, December 25th 2020
COVID-19: Everything about the new Coronavirus variant discovered in Nigeria
As the world was still processing the news of new variants of COVID-19 discovered in the UK & South Africa, another new strain seems to have appeared in Nigeria
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As the world was still processing the news of new variants of COVID-19 discovered in the United Kingdom and South Africa, another new strain seems to have appeared in Nigeria. The Africa CDC director John Nkengasong has said that the new strain has been detected in Nigeria, adding that it is still very early to say something about the new variant. The remarks by Nkengasong came during an online press conference after the emergency meeting called by the Africa CDC over the detection of the new strain in Nigeria and South Africa.
How was the new strain detected in Nigeria?
The presence of a new strain in Nigeria emerged after two or three genetic sequences appeared in COVID-19 tests, Africa CDC director said. The investigations by public health officials are being carried out to further determine the source and other information about the new variant. Nkengasong said that more will be shared about the new variant in the coming days, until then he asked people to be cautious.
What do officials know about the new variant?
Nkengasong said that there is no evidence to suggest that the new strain is causing higher cases in the country. Nigeria reported a 52 per cent increase in new cases in the past week alone. Nkengasong said that the Nigeria CDC and the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases in Nigeria will conduct a study on more samples to determine whether the new strain is causing higher transmission.
How bad is the spread of the new variant?
Nkengasong said that the Nigerian labs in the last couple of days have received a huge number of samples and are overwhelmed, which has caused an unusual delay. It is not clear whether the new variant is feeding to the rise in the number of cases, but a surge in infection has been for sure reported by the Nigerian CDC. The COVID-19 situation continues to differ across states. While there has been an increase in the number of cases across 23 states in the country, the majority (73%) of the cases detected were from Lagos, Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory.
How does it impact the region?
Nigeria is the most populous state in Africa with more than 200 million people, the country was already at risk of massive mass transmission due to the condition of living. Nigeria has more than 80,000 cases so far and over 1,200 deaths. The variant detected in South Africa has been termed a superspreader, but now a new variant in Nigeria can rapidly shoot up the total cases in the continent, which already has more than 2 million infections.
20:02 IST, December 25th 2020