619 Covid-19 cases of JN.1 recorded in 12 states so far: Report
A total of 619 cases of the JN.1 sub-variant of Covid-19 have been reported from 12 states in India as of Thursday, news agency PTI reported on Friday, quoting official sources.
199 cases were reported in Karnataka, 148 in Kerala, 110 in Maharashtra, 47 in Goa, 36 in Gujarat, 30 in Andhra Pradesh, 26 in Tamil Nadu, 15 in Delhi, 4 in Rajasthan, 2 in Telangana, and one each in Odisha and Haryana, as per their statement.
The Union health ministry’s data on Friday morning revealed that 761 new cases had been recorded in the past 24 hours, reducing the total active cases to 4,334, which is 89 fewer than the previous day. Over the past 24 hours, 12 deaths were reported, with five in Kerala, four in Karnataka, two in Maharashtra, and one in Uttar Pradesh.
During the peak of the pandemic in early 2020, daily case numbers were in the lakhs. Over a span of four years, the country has seen over 4.5 crore infections and more than 5.3 lakh deaths. On a positive note, the number of recoveries has surpassed 4.4 crore, resulting in a national recovery rate of 98.81 per cent, as per the ministry’s website.
Moreover, the country has administered a total of 220.67 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines, marking significant progress in vaccination efforts.
The World Health Organisation has currently labelled JN.1 as a distinct “variant of interest” due to its rapidly escalating transmission rate, although it assesses the global public health risk it poses as “low”.
Previously categorised within the BA.2.86 sub-lineages, which falls under the classification of a variant of interest (VOI), the JN.1 sub-variant of the coronavirus has now been specifically singled out by the global health organisation.
Covid situation across states
At present, Kerala leads with the highest active Covid-19 cases at 1,249, closely followed by Karnataka at 1,240, and Maharashtra with 914 active cases. Tamil Nadu has 190 cases, while Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh both have 128 active cases each.
Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said the state government’s vigilant stance toward the Covid-19 situation. The health department has been directed to take necessary precautions to curb the virus’s spread. The state currently reports 914 active cases, with 110 infections attributed to the JN.1 variant.
Odisha’s senior official confirmed the detection of two cases of the Covid-19 sub-variant JN.1, clarifying that one patient is under treatment while the other remains symptom-free. One of the patients has a travel history related to Kerala. The state, presently, has 26 active cases, and the Director of Health Services, Bijay Kumar Mohapatra, assured that while new variants are expected, there’s no cause for alarm.
In Karnataka, fresh Covid-19 infections rose to 298 from the previous day’s count of 260 cases. The state reported four virus-related deaths compared to one death recorded on Wednesday. The positivity rate in Karnataka also saw an increase from 3.46 per cent to 3.82 per cent on Thursday.