Inbound traveller imports COVID-19 Delta variant into Nigeria by Dayo Ojerinde

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control on Thursday said it had detected a confirmed case of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, also known as lineage B.1.617.2. The NCDC in a statement said the variant was detected in a traveller to Nigeria, following the routine travel test required of all international travellers and genomic sequencing at the NCDC National Reference Laboratory, Abuja. The deadly Delta variant is recognised by the World Health Organisation as a variant of concern, given its increased transmissibility. The variant has been detected in over 90 countries and is expected to spread to more countries, according to the NCDC. The NCDC Head of Communications, Dr Yahya Disu, in the statement said the variant had been linked to a surge in cases in countries where “it is the dominant strain” in circulation. “There are ongoing studies to understand the impact of the variant on existing vaccines and therapeutics. As part of Nigeria’s COVID-19 response, NCDC has been working with the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, African Centre for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, and other laboratories within the national networ, to carry out genomic sequencing. “This is to enable the detection of variants of concern, and initiate response activities. All data on variants from Nigeria have been published on GISAID, a global mechanism for sharing sequencing data. Given the global risk of spread of the Delta variant, positive samples from international travellers to Nigeria are sequenced regularly,” the statement partly reads. Meanwhile, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has said the state would not relent to punish international travellers evading isolation. He said, “Anybody who tries to bypass the Presidential Steering Committee regulations will have their passports deactivated and will face sanctions when they are brought to the attention of the law enforcement agencies. “We have a number of people that we published in the newspapers who need to present themselves to the Lagos State Government and explain why they have chosen to beat the guidelines. We are in the process of applying sanctions to many people or deactivate their passports. “We are expecting a large number of children returning to the country from Europe for the summer vacation. We know that the Delta strain is circulating in Europe and, therefore, these sanctions are very important.” PUNCH.