AN APPRAISAL OF THE OMICRON VARIANT OF COVID-19 IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT: This study was carried out on the appraise of omicron variant of covid-19 in Nigeria using Lagos State Ministry Of Health as a case study. To achieve this, the significant research objectives were formulated. The survey design was adopted and the simple random sampling techniques were employed in this study. The population size comprises of staff  of Lagos State Ministry Of Health. In determining the sample size, the researcher conveniently selected 56 respondents while 55 were received and 50 were validated. Self-constructed and validated questionnaire was used for data collection. The collected and validated questionnaires were analyzed using frequency tables and mean scores. The result of the findings reveals that the prevalence of omicron variant of covid-19 in Nigeria is high. The findings also revealed that Omicron variant of covid-19 significantly affects economic activities in Nigeria, and the measures put in place to curtail spread of omicron variant of covid-19 in Nigeria include; travel bans, movements restriction, enacting strict quarantine laws, and compulsory vaccination. In regard to the findings, the study recommends a deployment of effective PCR kit capable of detecting new B.1.1.529 variant in all laboratories; deployment of a fast testing kit at the entry point that can detect the new B.1.1529 variant for any suspected case; and efficient contact tracing (using technology) for all incoming passengers into the country.