Nigeria sees another Covid variant

Nairobi, December 24

Another new variant of Covid seems to have emerged in Nigeria, the head of Africa’s disease control body said on Thursday, cautioning more investigation was needed.

The news comes after Britain and South Africa both reported new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that appear to be more contagious, leading to new travel restrictions and turmoil in markets. “It’s a separate lineage from the UK and the South African lineages,” John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. Singapore has confirms its first case of new UK virus variant. Canada has extended ban on UK flights till January 6. China too has decided to suspend flights to and from the UK, but it hasn’t informed when the decision would come into effect.

The US has vaccinated over one million of its population. Tennessee and California have emerged the epicenter of the virus surge.

Israel will impose the third lockdown to fight Covid from Sunday, PM Benjamin Netanyahu said. South Korea has signed deals with Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson’s Janssen to purchase Covid-19 vaccines. — Agencies