BREAKING: Omicron fears: UK govt puts Nigeria on the red list, bans foreign travellers

The United Kingdom Government has said Nigeria will be added to the countries on its red list.

This is due to the discovery of COVID-19 Omicron cases linked to Nigeria.

The decision was announced in a tweet by the UK on Saturday.

According to the new protocol, non-UK and non-Irish citizens who are travelling in from Nigeria will not be allowed entry into the UK.

Although the ban is described as temporary, the UK said the new protocol does not apply to persons “staying airside and only transiting through”.

“Over the recent days we have learnt of a significant number of growing cases linked to travel with Nigeria,” UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said, as reported by the BBC on Saturday.

“There are 27 cases already in England and that’s growing and Nigeria now is second only to South Africa in terms of linked cases to Omicron.”

Nigeria on Wednesday, December 1, had recorded its first case of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 which was recently discovered in South Africa.

A  press statement was released on Wednesday by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) which confirmed three cases of COVID-19 Omicron variant in the country.

The NCDC Director-General, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa who noted the three cases were discovered through genomic sequencing.

According to the NCDC DG, these cases were discovered in three passengers who came into the country from South Africa, adding that the patients were asymptomatic and contact tracing had begun.

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“This genomic surveillance has now identified and confirmed Nigeria’s first cases of the B.1.1.529 SARS-CoV-2 lineage, now known as the Omicron variant,” the statement read.

“Samples obtained for the stipulated day two test for all travellers to Nigeria were positive for this variant in three persons with a history of travel to South Africa.

“These cases were recent arrivals in the country in the past week. Follow up to ensure isolation, linkage to clinical care, contact tracing and other relevant response activities have commenced. Arrangements are also being made to notify country where travel originated according to the provisions of the International Health Regulations.”

Omicron variant, a new strain of the coronavirus disease, was reported by South Africa and first detected in Botswana.

The discovery forced countries such as the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Israel among others placed travel bans on southern African countries.

Also, Canada had announced that it discovered two cases of the variant from two passengers from Nigeria.

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