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India has recorded 22 cases of the COVID-19 JN.1 variant in the last few days. The development came as the World Health Organization considered the new strain as ‘a matter of concern’ and several states held review meetings to assess the situation.
According to an ANI report quoting sources, 22 cases have been reported in the country till December 21. India reported 594 fresh COVID-19 infections on Thursday – taking the number of active cases to 2,669 from 2,311 the previous day. Health Ministry data on Friday morning showed there are 2997 active cases – with a rise reported from Kerala.
The southern state – the first to report a JN.1 Covid variant case – saw 265 fresh infections and one death in the last 24 hours. The sources also said there is no cluster of cases reported so far and all cases of the JN.1 subvariant have mild symptoms.
However, officials are emphasizing that the new strain is not a major threat at present.
“We need to be cautious, but we don’t need to worry because we don’t have any data to suggest that this variant JN.1 is more serious or that it’s going to cause more pneumonia, more deaths. Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, former chief scientist of the World Health Organization, told ANI, “I think what we need to do is try to take the usual preventive measures that we are all familiar with now.”
The health body recently classified JN.1 as a variant of interest, which is distinct from its parent lineage BA.2.86. However, the global health body stressed that the overall risk posed by JN.1 is low based on current evidence.
(with inputs from agencies)
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Published: 23 Dec 2023, 12:15 am IST
