African countries are stepping up measures to detect and control the spread of the Omicron variant.
This became necessary as weekly new COVID-19 cases in the continent rose by 54 per cent due to an upsurge in southern Africa, said the World Health Organisation in a statement released on Thursday.
According to WHO, the Omicron variant has now been detected in four African countries, namely Botswana, South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria, while more than 20 countries have detected the variant to date.
Botswana and South Africa account for 62 per cent of cases reported globally, said the WHO Regional Office for Africa based in Brazzaville, the Congolese capital.
That Omicron variant is expected to be detected in more countries as national authorities step up surveillance and sequencing operations
WHO said this, adding that the detection of the Omicron variant is coinciding with a 54 per cent surge in COVID-19 infections in Africa, mainly due to an uptick in southern…
Source: Vanguard Newspaper
