Live Updates: Former ICMR DG States JN.1 Variant of COVID-19 is More Transmissible and Infectious in India

As the New Year approaches, both the central and state governments are closely monitoring the new Covid variant, JN.1, taking necessary precautions. The country has reported a total of 145 cases of the Covid-19 sub-variant JN.1 as of December 28.

Health ministers of various states are evaluating the readiness of hospitals, with the Maharashtra government urging people and institutions in the state to remain vigilant for the next 10 to 15 days. Kerala reported 78 new cases, followed by Gujarat with 34.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated JN.1 as a “variant of interest” due to its rapid spread, although it is considered to pose a “low” global public health risk.

In Maharashtra, 129 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded on Friday, with 10 patients infected with the JN.1 variant. The state has seen a total of 80,23,487 discharged COVID-19 patients, with a recovery rate of 98.18% and a case fatality rate of 1.81%. Out of 8,76,06,207 laboratory samples, 81,72,533 have tested positive for COVID-19 (9.33%).

Regarding the JN.1 variant, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, former ICMR DG, mentioned that it is more transmissible and infectious. She stated, “It belongs to the same Omicron family, but because it has certain mutations, which makes it more transmissible, more infectious. So it’s been classified as a variant of interest by the WHO. However, till now, the public health risk is still low in the sense that because we all have immunity now because of the vaccines and the natural infections, we’ve had in the past, and that immunity still seems to be quite strong. It’s still protecting most of us from getting severely ill.”

In Karnataka, 173 fresh cases of Covid-19 and two related deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of active cases in the state to 702. The recent spike in cases has led to a total of more than 10 Covid-19 related deaths in the state.

#WATCH | On JN.1 COVID variant, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Former DG, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) says, "It belongs to the same Omicron family, but because it has certain mutations, which makes it more transmissible, more infectious. So it's been classified as a variant… pic.twitter.com/SaBsgw60sE

— ANI (@ANI) December 29, 2023