The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has urged Nigerians not to spread unverified information, saying it is monitoring the new subvariants of the Omicron variant named EG.5 and BA.2.86.
In a statement, the agency stated that as of 7th August 2023, the EG.5 has been reported in fifty-one (51) countries while the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified it as a ‘variant of interest’ (VOI) and conducted a risk assessment which found this new variant poses a low risk at the global level.
It stated that it has not observed any increase in the trend of COVID-19 in patient groups, but would continue to carry out genomics surveillance despite low testing levels.
The NCDC’s COVID-19 Technical Working Group (COVID-19 TWO) also said it is closely monitoring COVID-19 epidemiology — local, regional, continental, and global — including emerging variants.
