The Federal Government has cautioned Nigerians and residents on the new Omicron strain of COVID-19, labelling it as a potentially dangerous variant, while advising everyone to observe extra care and vigilance in practice and implementing preventive measures.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman of Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, stated this on Monday at the national briefing of the Committee.
He spoke amid the report that Canada had recorded its first cases of the new Omicron strain of COVID, in two people who had visited Nigeria recently, stating that the world has been affected by a new COVID-19 Variant of Concern, called, Omicron as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO).
He, however, noted that the PSC is assessing the situation around the globe and putting procedures in place to reduce the effect of the variant on the country.
Mustapha said: “The world has been hit with a new COVID-19 Variant of Concern, called, Omicron as announced by the WHO.
“This variant is potentially dangerous, and Nigerians and residents are required to exercise extra caution and vigilance in practice and enforcement of preventive measures.
“As the DG WHO has just started today, ‘the emergence of the highly-mutated Omicron variant underlines just how perilous and precarious our situation is. South Africa and Botswana should be thanked for detecting, sequencing and reporting this variant, not penalized.’
“Nigerians and Residents are therefore urged to get fully vaccinated, frequently tested, and continue to strictly adhere to the non-pharmaceutical intervention measures, including physical distancing, properly wearing of face masks, ensure proper ventilation and hand hygiene.”
