TheCable

Garba Shehu, senior special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, has reportedly tested positive for COVID-19.

The presidential spokesperson is said to be undergoing treatment for the virus.

Shehu told Channels Television on Saturday that he is currently in isolation.

He said he is experiencing mild symptoms of the virus, adding that he would undergo further tests to ascertain his status.

The presidential spokesperson said Tijjani Umar, the permanent secretary at the state house, and a few others have also undergone COVID-19 tests.

Shehu was quoted as saying he has no knowledge of the result of their tests.

In the past few days, Nigeria has been reporting a steady increase in COVID-19 infections, in what has been confirmed as the fourth wave of the pandemic by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

On Wednesday, Nigeria recorded 4,035 cases — the highest single-day count since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

On Friday, NCDC announced that 45 cases of the Omicron variant have been detected in the country.

As at the time of filing this report, Nigeria has recorded 234,709 cases of COVID-19 with 19,479 cases currently active, while 212,237 persons have been discharged and 2,993 deaths recorded.