COVID-19: India sees 22 cases of JN.1 variant as states brace for fresh outbreak

India has recorded 22 cases of the COVID-19 JN.1 variant over the past few days. The development came even as the World Health Organization deemed the new strain a ‘Variant of Concern’ and several states held review meetings to assess the situation. 

According to an ANI report quoting sources, the country has reported 22 cases till December 21. India reported 594 fresh COVID-19 infections on Thursday - taking the number of active cases from 2,311 the previous day to 2,669. Health Ministry data on Friday morning indicates 2997 active cases — with a surge reported from Kerala. 

The southern state — the first to report a JN.1 Covid variant case — saw 265 fresh infections and one death in the previous 24 hours. The sources also stated that there has been no clustering of cases reported so far and all the cases of the JN.1 subvariant have mild symptoms.

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Officials however insist that the new strain does not pose a major threat at present. 

“We need to be cautious, but we don't need to worry because we don't have any data to suggest that this variant JN.1 is more severe or it's going to cause more pneumonia, more death. I think what we need to do is try to take the normal preventive measures that we are all now familiar with,” former World Health Organization chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan told ANI.

The health body recently classified JN.1 as a variant of interest, distinct from its parent lineage BA.2.86. However, the global health body emphasised that the overall risk posed by JN.1 remains low based on current evidence.

(With inputs from agencies)