By Kate Halim
In the just expired year, COVID-19 continued to ravage the world, even when many thought the virus, which caused deaths, distress and lockdowns all over the world as well as a massive disruption of the global order in 2020, had done its worst.
The year 2021 was the year of the Delta and Omnicron variants of COVID-19.
Coronavirus are a big family of different viruses. Some of them cause common cold in people. Others infect animals, including bats, camels, and cattle. But how did SARS-CoV-2, the new Coronavirus that causes COVID-19, come into being?
Beginning of a global pandemic
The virus was first detected in Wuhan, China, in late 2019 and then set off a global pandemic.
Experts say SARS-CoV-2 originated in bats. That’s also how the Coronaviruses behind Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) got started.
SARS-CoV-2 made the jump to humans at one of Wuhan’s open air “wet markets.” They are where customers buy fresh meat and fish, including animals that are killed on the spot.
As SARS-CoV-2 spread both inside and outside China, it infected people who had no direct contact with animals. That meant the virus was transmitted from one human to another. It spread around the globe, meaning that people are unwittingly catching and passing on the coronavirus. The growing worldwide transmission is what is known as a pandemic.
COVID-19 in nigeria
The Federal Ministry of Health confirmed a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) case in Lagos, on February 27 2020. That was the first case to be reported in Nigeria since the beginning of the outbreak in China in January 2020.
In a bid to slow the rate of spread of the virus, the Federal Government of Nigeria, on several occasions, imposed targeted lockdown measures in areas with rapid increase of COVID-19 cases.
The states in which the Federal Government imposed the targeted lockdown included Lagos, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja. Some states in the country imposed partial lockdown and closure of interstate boarders. Curfews were also introduced in all the states nationwide.
To alleviate the effects of the lockdown, the Federal Government of Nigeria rolled out palliative measures for targeted groups. However, lamentations trailed the distribution of government palliatives by Nigerians. Some citizens alleged that the process of distribution of palliatives was politicised.
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), there have been over 3,000 COVID-19 related deaths in Nigeria since the pandemic started. There are 236, 014 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There are 20,643 active cases, 212, 357 discharged cases while 3,751, 696 samples have been tested so far.
The NCDC is the country’s national public health institute, with the mandate to lead the preparedness, detection and response to public health emergencies.
COVID-19 Delta variant
The Delta Variant is a variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. It was first detected in India in late 2020. The Delta variant was named on 31 May 2021 and had spread to over 179 countries by 22 November 2021.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) indicated in June 2021 that the Delta variant was becoming the dominant strain globally.
On 11 May 2021, the WHO also classified this lineage VOC, and said that it showed evidence of higher transmissibility and reduced neutralisation. On 15 June 2021, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared Delta a variant of concern.
The variant is partly responsible for India’s deadly second wave of the pandemic beginning in February 2021. It later contributed to a third wave in Fiji, the United Kingdom and South Africa and the WHO warned in July 2021 that it could have a similar effect elsewhere in Europe and Africa.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) detected a confirmed case with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, also known as lineage B. 1.617 on July 8, 2021.
By late July, it had also driven an increase in daily infections in parts of Asia, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
The most common symptoms changed from the most common symptoms previously associated with standard COVID-19. Infected people may mistake the symptoms for a bad cold and not realise they need to isolate. Common symptoms reported have been headaches, sore throat, a runny nose or a fever.
In the United Kingdom, when the Delta variant accounted for 91 per cent of new cases, one study found that the most reported symptoms were headache, sore throat, and runny nose.
In September, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said that the Delta variant of COVID-19 virus is the dominant strain in the country. He required Nigerians to keep all the prescribed protective measures in place and increase testing.
The omicron variant
The Omicron variant of COVID-19 was called a variant of concern by WHO based on the evidence that it has several mutations that may have an impact on how it behaves. There is still substantial uncertainty regarding Omicron and a lot of research has been underway to evaluate its transmissibility, severity and re-infection risk.
When a virus is circulating widely and causing numerous infections, the likelihood of the virus mutating increases. The more opportunities a virus has to spread, the more opportunities it has to undergo changes.
New variants like Omicron are a reminder that the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over. It is therefore essential that people get the vaccine when available to them and continue to follow existing advice on preventing the spread of the virus, including physical distancing, wearing masks, regular hand washing and keeping indoor areas well ventilated.
The Omicron variant has been detected in many countries around the world. WHO reports that Omicron is probably in most countries, even if it hasn’t been detected yet.
Early findings suggest that Omicron might be less severe than the Delta variant, but more data is needed and WHO warns that it should not be dismissed as “mild”. Studies are ongoing and this information will be updated as it becomes available.
It is important to remember that all variants of COVID-19 can cause severe disease or death, including the Delta variant that is still dominant worldwide, which is why preventing the spread of the virus and reducing your risk of exposure to the virus is so important.
Omicron is spreading more quickly than other variants. Based on the information available, WHO believes it is likely that Omicron will outpace the Delta variant where there is COVID-19 transmission in the community.
However, being vaccinated and taking precautions such as avoiding crowded spaces, keeping your distance from others and wearing a mask are critical in helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19. These actions have been effective against other variants.
There is no information to suggest that Omicron causes different COVID-19 symptoms from other COVID-19 variants.
It is also important to be vaccinated to protect against other widely circulating variants.
The Omicron variant comes amid a race to get booster jabs into arms as quickly as possible, with an early study by Imperial College London having suggested that a third vaccine dose could offer around 85 per cent protection against severe illness with Omicron.
Recent covid-19 deaths
According to reports, COVID-19 killed 21 Nigerians on Christmas Day as the death toll surpassed 3,000, according to the NCDC.
Figures released by the centre early Sunday December 26, showed that the nation reported 21 deaths on Christmas Day.
This took the total COVID-19 deaths in the country to 3,014. The deaths represent the highest the nation has recorded in over two weeks.
But NCDC explained that 20 of the deaths were backlogs from two states, Kaduna and Imo. Imo reported 16 deaths and Kaduna four.
The NCDC also reported that Nigeria posted 1,305 new cases of the virus on Christmas Day, with Lagos ramping up 705 fresh cases and Oyo, 234 cases.
With the new infections, confirmed COVID-19 cases in Nigeria have reached 236,014. So far, 212,357 survivors have been discharged.