BREAKING: NCDC Gives Update On New COVID-19 Subvariants, Reveals Next Move

BREAKING: NCDC Gives Update On New COVID-19 Subvariants, Reveals Next Move

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has reported its surveillance on the new subvariants of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, known as EG.5 and BA.2.86.

In a statement released on Saturday, the health agency indicated that its COVID-19 Technical Working Group has been closely monitoring the emergence of these variants on both local and global scales.

The statement noted, “Our influenza sentinel surveillance sites continue to provide information on COVID-19 prevalence in patients with influenza-like illness and severe acute respiratory illness.”

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Despite the emergence of these new variants, the NCDC asserted that there hasn’t been a noticeable increase in COVID-19 trends within the monitored patient group. The agency continues to conduct genomic surveillance, urging testing locations in various states to send their positive samples to the NCDC for sequencing.

The NCDC and its partners are also embarking on an enhanced COVID-19 testing initiative in four states to gather more comprehensive data about circulating variants in Nigeria. Additionally, the distribution of COVID-19 rapid diagnostic kits aims to improve testing efforts.

The agency emphasized that preventive measures remain consistent – practicing good hand hygiene, regular testing, vaccination, and wearing masks. The statement aimed to alleviate unnecessary anxiety, asserting that while COVID-19 remains present, it primarily affects high-risk individuals, such as the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.

The EG.5 subvariant has been identified in 51 countries, including prominent nations like China, the United States, the United Kingdom, and others. The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified EG.5 as a “variant of interest” (VOI) and assessed it to pose a low global risk.

Symptoms associated with EG.5 are consistent with those of other COVID-19 variants, including fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, and sore throat.

In Africa, only one case of EG.5 has been confirmed so far, and it has not been detected in Nigeria. While the BA.2 variant has been identified in Nigeria before, the BA.2.86 variant has not been reported within the country, according to the NCDC.