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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is collaborating with health authorities in Cross River State to strengthen response measures following the confirmation of a new COVID-19 case.
Director-General of the NCDC, Dr. Jide Idris, confirmed the development on Tuesday in Abuja, noting that the agency had activated its emergency response systems to contain any possible spread.
According to him, surveillance, contact tracing, and infection prevention and control measures had been intensified in coordination with the state government and relevant partners.
The Cross River State Ministry of Health had earlier confirmed the case involving a 53-year-old foreign national who reportedly developed symptoms weeks after arriving in Nigeria and later tested positive at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital.
State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Ayuk, said the patient has been admitted and is responding to treatment, while laboratory analysis is ongoing to guide clinical management.
He added that all identified contacts are currently being traced and monitored, stressing that there was no evidence of widespread transmission at the moment.
“The NCDC, in collaboration with the state government and partners, have intensified contact tracing, surveillance, and infection prevention and control measures. All identified contacts are being followed up appropriately, and there is no evidence at this time of widespread transmission,” he said.
Dr. Ayuk noted that the case underscores the effectiveness of Nigeria’s disease surveillance system in detecting and responding to potential public health threats.
He urged residents to continue observing basic preventive measures such as regular handwashing, respiratory hygiene, and seeking medical attention when unwell, while relying on verified public health advisories.
Dr. Idris also called for calm, vigilance, and strict adherence to safety protocols, adding that emergency response teams had been deployed to support containment efforts and ensure close monitoring of the situation.
Nigeria recorded its first COVID-19 case in February 2020, which led to a nationwide response coordinated by the NCDC and the Federal Ministry of Health. The outbreak, which later spread globally, resulted in multiple waves driven by variants such as Delta and Omicron, placing significant pressure on health systems and prompting the establishment of isolation and treatment centres across the country.
Although reported cases have declined significantly in recent years, health experts warn that the virus has not been eradicated and continues to circulate at low levels globally.
They also caution that reduced testing and reporting in many countries may limit the ability to track transmission trends accurately, raising concerns about potential undetected outbreaks.
Public health experts therefore continue to advocate sustained surveillance, preparedness, and rapid response capacity to manage sporadic cases and prevent wider spread.
Meanwhile, global tracking platforms such as Worldometer have stopped updating COVID-19 statistics regularly since April 2024, citing difficulties in obtaining consistent global data as many countries have scaled back routine reporting.
Historical data from the platform shows that Nigeria recorded 267,188 confirmed cases, 3,155 deaths, and 259,953 recoveries since the onset of the pandemic.
