India records 22 JN.1 variant cases till Thursday. What we know so far

New Delhi: 22 cases of COVID’s JN.1 variant were reported in India till December 21, official sources said on Friday. Out of 22 cases, Goa accounted for most of the cases whereas Kerala registered one such case. The sources said that no clustering of COVID-19 cases has been reported so far. They added that all the infected people were detected with mild symptoms. 

“A total of 22 JN.1 COVID variant cases were reported in India till December 21. No clustering of COVID-19 reported so far, all cases have mild symptoms,” reported news agency ANI quoting official sources as saying. 

What we know so far

The first JN.1 variant in India was reported on December 8 from Kerala where a 79-year-old woman got infected with the virus. The woman, who had mild symptoms, recovered without complications. 

Amid rising COVID cases in the country, Karnataka on Friday constituted a cabinet sub-committee to monitor the situation in the state. The panel included Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, Cabinet Ministers Sharan Prakash Patil, Dr HC Mahadevappa and Dr MC Sudhakar. 

India saw a single-day rise of 640 fresh COVID-19 infections while the number of active cases rose to 2,997 from 2,669 the day before, the Union health ministry said on Friday. Whereas Kerala reported 265 fresh Covid cases and one death in the last 24 hours. With this fatality in the state, the total number of people who have died due to coronavirus in Kerala since its outbreak three years ago reached 72,060.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified JN.1 as a variant of interest separate from its parent lineage, BA.2.86, emphasising a low overall risk based on current evidence. 

On Thursday, former World Health Organisation (WHO) chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan said that there is a need to be alert and not panic currently given that JN.1 has been declared as a separate variant of interest by the WHO. 

States/UTs have been directed to ensure effective compliance of the detailed operational guidelines for revised surveillance strategy for COVID-19 shared by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Stressing on the need for states to ramp up testing and strengthen their surveillance systems, NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr V K Paul had on Monday said that the scientific community in India is closely investigating the new variant.