COVID-19: Nigeria Records 13 UK Variants In 7 Days – PTF

In seven days, Nigeria has recorded 13 cases of the United Kingdom Strain of COVID-19 known as B117.

Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha disclosed this at the weekly press briefing of the task force on Monday.

“A total of 13 B117 variant strains have so far been detected in Nigeria,” said Mustapha.

Recall that six cases of COVID-19 variant strains were detected on February 1, 2021, and according to the PTF, “they all came out of samples collected between November and January”.

This development showed that seven new cases of the variant strains had been detected in the country.

Mustapha, however, noted that the PTF, through the Nigeria Centre For Disease Control (NCDC), was working with the Africa CDC on genomic surveillance.

He said the PTF would intensify its testing process, which he said was a viable strategy, while task force would continue to appeal to citizens to get tested.

The PTF said it would also call on sub-national entities to ensure that the capacity of the laboratories that have been established within their jurisdictions was fully maximised.

The maximisation, according to the PTF, would help reduce the burden on the National Reference Laboratory and turnout of test results.