21 die as NCDC detects six COVID-19 strains in Nigeria

A total of 21 persons were confirmed to have died of COVID-19 complications on Monday.

The Monday figure makes it a total of 100 deaths recorded within the past seven days, increasing the current fatality toll to 1,607.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the African Centre for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) have detected additional six B.1.1.7 variants of COVID-19 in the country.

Director-General of the NCDC, Chikwe Ihekweazu, stated this at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 briefing in Abuja, on Monday.

In January, the PTF said the B117 variant of COVID-19 first reported in the UK had been detected in Nigeria.

Ihekweazu said, “On January 30, our partners at ACEGID detected the B.1.1.7 variant in six additional samples — five from Osun and one from Kwara State. This is the variant of concern that first emerged in the UK.

 “The five in Osun is most likely related to the fact that this is where ACEGID is and where they get a lot of samples from. In total, we have detected the B.1.1.7 variant in seven cases within Nigeria. This could imply community transmission of this variant of concern.”

He also said, “We are currently scaling up on genomic surveillance, working very closely with ACEGID.

“Specifically, we have begun sequencing positive samples among travellers from the UK and South Africa, who test positive on the seventh day of testing.

“We are developing a protocol to sequence more samples from across states at ACEGID and our sister-agency, NIMR. This is in addition to our capacity at the NCDC National Reference Laboratory.”

The NCDC boss urged people to avoid large gatherings; wash hands regularly; wear a face mask properly and ensure physical distancing.

He said, “We are all aware that with the increasing transmission, the virus is adapting to the human population leading to what is known as variants of concern.

“In most countries, it is still not clear if the variants of concern are leading to increased transmission, or if the increase in cases is as a result of poor adherence to public health and social measures.

“An additional layer of response required to really understand the variants of concern is with genetic sequencing and genomic surveillance.

“We have begun this at the NCDC National Reference Laboratory with our partners at ACEGID at Redeemers University, Ede.”

Meanwhile, the NCDC has confirmed 676 new COVID-19 infections in the country.

The new case count, which was included in the agency’s update for February 1, is the country’s lowest single-day tally in the past four weeks.

Lagos, the epicentre of the pandemic in the country, again recorded the highest number of new infections with 227 confirmed cases. The state also has 49,501 total confirmed cases.

Rivers State recorded the second highest figure with 73 positive samples.

Other states that confirmed new infections are Niger (69), Plateau (56), FCT (50), Kano (44), Oyo (43), Ogun (27), Gombe (18), Ondo (15), Enugu (10), Osun (10), Cross River (8), Edo (8), Nasarawa (7), Bauchi (4), Kaduna (3), Ekiti (2), and Zamfara (2).

According to the agency, 1,286 new recoveries were reported across the country in the last 24 hours, which included 776 discharged patients in Lagos state, and 96 in Plateau.

A total of 131,918 COVID-19 cases have now been confirmed, of which 106,275 persons have been discharged, while 24,036 are currently active cases.