Nigeria, Feb. 15 -- Nigeria has now confirmed 29 cases of the B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant within its borders, an official said Monday.

The B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant was first detected in the United Kingdom and has since spread to other parts of the world.

The Director-General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Iheakwazu, while speaking at the Monday briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, said the new variant has spread across six states in Nigeria.

"We have now confirmed a total of 29 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant and this has been confirmed in Edo, Kwara, Lagos, Osun, Oyo and FCT," Mr Iheakwazu said.

He commended scientists working at the Africa Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases...