• Source:JND

Covid-19 Update:  The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday reported that 21 cases of the new variant JN.1 have emerged nationwide. Goa recorded 19 cases, while Maharashtra and Kerala each reported one case. Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya led a high-level meeting earlier in the day to assess India's Covid-19 situation.

The meeting, attended by Union Ministers of State for Health and Family Welfare Prof S.P. Singh Baghel and Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, along with NITI Aayog's Member, Health, Dr V.K. Paul, focused on reviewing the country's preparedness for surveillance, containment, and management of the recent spike in cases in certain states.

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The country's active cases rose to 2,311 on Wednesday with Kerala reporting the highest number of active cases (2,041). Though, significantly less compared to the global scenario, the last two weeks have seen a steep rise in active Covid cases from 115 on Dec 6 to 614, as informed by Union Health Secretary Sudhansh Pant during a high-level meeting chaired to review the Covid-19 situation in India on Wednesday.

Pant noted that 92.8 per cent of the cases are home-isolated, indicating mild illness. He added that there is also no increase in hospitalisation rates, and "Covid-19 is an incidental finding" among people hospitalised due to other medical conditions.

JN.1 is a sub-lineage of the BA.2.86 Omicron variant and was first detected in Luxembourg in August, before spreading to other countries. BA.2.86, also known as the "Pirola" variant, was first detected in Denmark in July.

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Meanwhile, in Madhya Pradesh two people from a family who recently returned to their hometown Indore from Maldives have tested positive for coronavirus, according to a health official on Wednesday. The samples of the infected individuals have been sent for genome sequencing to determine the variant. The reported cases in Madhya Pradesh's financial capital coincide with an increase in viral infections in certain states, following the emergence of the new JN.1 variant of COVID-19 in the country.

(With agency inputs)


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