NCDC denies new Covid-19 variant’s presence in Nigeria, as EU recommends testing of travellers from China

Despite the decision by Ghana and Morocco in Africa to place compulsory testing for passengers arriving from China, the Federal Government has continued to stall, as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) insists that the Covid-19 Omicron sub-lineages partly responsible for the virus increase cases in China, the United States, and the United Kingdom, have not yet been detected in the country.

This is also as officials of the European Union (UN) have recommended that passengers arriving from China to the region should undertake a negative Covid-19 test before they board.

China has confirmed 22 deaths since December, 2022, while the United Kingdom-based science data company Airfinity estimates there are more than two million Covid cases a day in China, and 14,700 deaths.

Reacting to the surge in the new Covid-19 variant’s cases particularly in China, the NCDC identified, in an update on Covid-19 genomic surveillance signed by its Director-General, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, Thursday, that, the Omicron sub-lineage responsible for the rise in cases in the United States and United Kingdom is XBB.1.5; while BF.7 is responsible for the increased cases in China, even as the agency, stated that ‘B.5.2.1 has only been seen in Nigeria since July, last year.’

He said Nigeria-targeted travel restrictions, including requests for PCR-negative tests from incoming travellers, had little or no effect on preventing global and national circulation of omicron since the emergence of the variant and its relatives with their shorter incubation period.

“The NCDC-led Covid-19 Emergency Operations Centre is monitoring the trends in China, the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, India, and other countries with a high volume of traffic to and from Nigeria.

“This includes the resurgence of Covid-19 in China following the relaxation of the country’s zero-Covid policy, as well as significantly increased Covid-19 cases, admissions, and deaths in the UK and the US over the past weeks driven in part by the usual winter exacerbations of respiratory illnesses.

“Before the recent case increase in China, the US, the UK, and other countries, genomic surveillance has shown that the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant and its lineages continue to dominate in recorded infections worldwide.

“However, the rise in the new Omicron sub-lineages XBB.1.5 in the UK and the US, and BF.7 in China raises concern as it may spread faster than older Omicron sub-lineages (e.g. XBB or BQ) and they are responsible in part for current increases in cases, hospitalisations, and deaths.

“However, the sub-lineage seen with cases in China, B.5.2.1, and BF.7 are responsible for the surge in China and do not appear to be increasing unusually in other countries.”

Adetifa, however, assured that the NCDC would continue to strengthen genomic surveillance of the Covid-19 virus in Nigeria.

“Since the detection of the Omicron variant in December 2021, its sub-lineage (BQ.1/BQ.1.1) has been dominant in Nigeria.

“None of these dominant sub-lineages in Nigeria that are also circulating elsewhere has been associated with any increases in case numbers, admissions, or deaths locally.

“Regardless of COVID-19 variants in different parts of the world, severe disease, admissions, and deaths disproportionately affect the unvaccinated and those with established risk factors like older people, people with co-morbidities, and the immune-compromised.”

He however emphasised that the most important action for Nigerians to take is to get vaccinated against Covid-19 as the vaccine is the most important intervention for preventing severe disease, hospitalisation, and death.

“Though the Covid-19 protocols and restrictions have been eased, people at high risk for severe case are advised to continue to adhere to the recommended non-pharmaceutical interventions such as the use of face masks, good hand and respiratory hygiene and avoidance of crowded spaces.

“Covid-19 has and continues to follow a different epidemiological course in Nigeria and most of Africa. Other Omicron sub-lineages that were associated with increases in cases, admissions and deaths elsewhere did not cause the same in Nigeria as confirmed by our genomics surveillance. This is because the population is significantly protected from a combination of natural immunity and vaccination with a high impact on hospitalisation, and deaths. In hindsight, country-targeted travel restrictions including requests for PCR-negative tests from incoming travellers had little or no effect on preventing global and national circulation of omicron since the emergence of this variant and its relatives with their shorter incubation period.

“The NCDC will continue to pay close attention to the ongoing Covid-19 situation in other countries and gather additional surveillance data to inform actions. We are reviewing the situation again this week. At this next review and if deemed necessary, a range of actions, not limited to enhanced surveillance of travellers at airports, may be decided on and implemented,” the NCDC boss promised.

Meanwhile, EU officials have recommended that passengers flying from China to the region should have a negative Covid-19 test before they board, following fears that China plans to ease travel restrictions despite a wave of new Covid infections.

Travel in and out of China gets easier from Sunday, as part of the scrapping of the “zero-Covid” policy.

China is currently seeing a surge in Covid cases, with reports of hospitals and crematoriums being overwhelmed.

Some EU countries have already introduced testing – despite earlier advice that it was “unjustified”.

Wednesday’s recommendation on negative tests came from the EU’s Integrated Political Crisis Response group (IPCR), a body made up of officials from the EU’s 27 governments.

It also advised that: “All passengers on flights to and from China wear face masks; Random testing of flights from China be introduced, and; Wastewater monitoring be conducted at airports.”

The recommendation comes a day after the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, said an “overwhelming” number of member states favoured restrictions on Chinese arrivals.

France, Spain and Italy have already introduced testing but others, such as Germany, had been monitoring the situation. England, outside the EU, requires pre-flight testing on China arrivals from Thursday.

Despite the recommendation, it is not known if an EU-wide policy will be introduced but individual states can set their own policy.

The advice from the IPCR is a change in tack from the body’s disease prevention agency, which last week advised against ‘the introduction of mandatory Covid tests.’

The ECDC said testing was “unjustified”, given the high rates of vaccination in Europe, and that variants circulating in China were already in the European Union.

It would be recalled that the World Health Organization (WHO), Wednesday, said there was no evidence of new variants in China, despite the surge in cases. Its’ experts, however, warned this could be due to a lack of testing and data.

The WHO has also said that China was under-representing the true impact of Covid in the country – in part due to what they said “was a “too narrow” definition of a Covid death.”

The Chinese government suggested earlier this week that travel restrictions on Chinese arrivals are politically motivated – and has warned that it may retaliate.