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Analiza Pathak
Born in Guwahati, raised in Mussoorie and Delhi, She grew up reading magazines more than textbooks. She is an experienced writer/editor and has shifted focus to various aspects of communication. Her a ... Read More
New Delhi: As number of active Covid cases in Kerala continues to remain at the top with 115 fresh cases getting reported in the past 24 hours, there has been a slight uptick in active cases in Maharashtra and Goa. In Goa, 18 cases of BA.2 (JN.1) have been detected by the genomic sequencing lab at the North Goa district hospital, including a BA.2.86 sequence. Of them, 18 were from Goa and one each from Kerala and Maharashtra, a report in TOI said. State epidemiologist Dr Prashant Suryavanshi confirmed the cases and said there is no need to worry or panic. “All the patients have already completed seven days and they are not among the active cases in the state.
“The JN.1 samples from Goa were cluster cases from a single event, a recent film festival,” an Insacog official told TOI. “All the patients were home isolated and were all mild cases. There were no admissions and no deaths,” Suryavanshi said.
Maharashtra reported 13 new cases of the infection on Tuesday. This is after several months that the state reported detection in double digit. All 13 fresh cases are detected in Mumbai. All infected persons are in home isolation, none in hospital. As per state’s weekly report, there were eight cases from November 22 to 27, which rose to 14 between November and December 4. The weekly case count further rose to 22 from December 5 to 11, and to 25 in the week ending December 18. Officials said a rise in flu activity is expected this time of the year due to fluctuation in temperature and other factors. Covid has claimed 134 in the state since January.
As a precautionary measure, following Karnataka’s mandate on wearing masks outdoors, Maharashtra has subsequently advised its citizens to wear masks as needed and follow Covid-appropriate behaviour.
These sequences of BA.2.86 (nicknamed Pirola) descendant JN.1 were found after the subvariant was first detected in Kerala a few days ago, while India’s active Covid case count more than doubled in the past nine days from 938 on December 11 to 1,970 on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya held a high-level review meeting in Delhi with all States/UTs on the preparedness of health facilities and services, in view of the recent upsurge in respiratory illnesses such as Influenza-like Illness, Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (including by COVID-19).
Assuring the states of receiving all support from the Centre, he said, “We need to be on the alert but there is no need to panic.” The health minister stressed on holding mock drills in all hospitals once every three months and urged states to ensure preventive measures are taken during the winter season ahead of festivities.
Mandaviya said, “It is time to work together with a ‘Whole of Government’ approach, through closely working with each other. We need to be on the alert, but there is no need to panic. It’s important to be prepared with mock drills of hospital preparedness, increased surveillance and effective communication with people. A mock drill should be done in all hospitals once every 3 months. I assure all support of the Centre to States. Health is not an area of politics.”
#WATCH | Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya in Delhi holds a high-level review meeting with all States/UTs on the preparedness of health facilities and services, in view of the recent upsurge in respiratory illnesses such as Influenza-like Illness, Severe Acute… pic.twitter.com/8eksMLaxjL
— ANI (@ANI) December 20, 2023
The World Health Organisation has classified COVID-19 strain JN.1 as a separate “variant of interest” given its rapidly increasing spread but said that it poses a “low” global public health risk. The JN.1 variant was previously classified as a variant of interest (VOI) as part of the BA.2.86 sublineages, the parent lineage that is classified as a VOI, the world body said on Tuesday.
“Due to its rapidly increasing spread, WHO is classifying JN.1 as a separate variant of interest (VOI) from the parent lineage BA.2.86,” the global health body said in a post on X.
The JN.1 variant has been reported in the USA, China, Singapore and India, according to India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Seven cases of the variant have been reported from China.
