Oyo state, one of the six states in the Southwest region has recorded a new variant of the novel Coronavirus which is more infectious than other variants and could be more transmissible in children.
A professor of virology, David Olaleye, who works with the Oyo state emergency operation Center, made this known to newsmen in Ibadan, noting that the laboratory analysis carried out revealed that infections from the newly discovered variant could be more virulent than the first outbreak of the virus in March 2020.
According to professor Olaleye, the new variant of the novel coronavirus is rapidly emerging while research is still ongoing to know whether the new strain of the virus could cause more severe illness or increase the risk of death.
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The renowned virologist who explained that viruses constantly change through mutation, allayed the fears of the good people of Oyo state, stressing that Covid-19 is not an ecological disease and new variants of a virus are expected to occur over time.
Professor Olaleye who harped that the new variant is more contagious than previously identified strains appealed to residents to go for the Covid-19 test as the variability of the virus has nothing to do with the preventive measures.
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In a similar vein, the coordinator, Oyo State Covid-19 Isolation Centers, Professor Temitope Alonge, during a chat with the state’s house correspondents, hinted that the new variant of the virus which was recorded recently in the state is deadlier as it takes the life of its host within one week.
However, statistics showed to newsmen at the Oyo state Emergency Operation Center, Yemetu, Ibadan, indicated that children between ages 10 and 14 years are mostly victims of the dreaded virus.
Meanwhile, reports had it that a Ph.D. holder and top official of UNICEF in Nigeria has died of the novel coronavirus in Oyo state.