JN.1 Covid variant: Delhi, Kerala, and other states review coronavirus situation; doctors say ’mask up’ | Top 10 updates

A Noida resident has tested positive for Covid, in the first case of the infection in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar after several months, said officials, adding that his sample has been sent to Delhi for genome sequencing and the result is awaited. 

Gautam Buddh Nagar Chief Medical Officer Dr Sunil Sharma on Thursday said the patient is a 54-year-old male who lives in Noida but works at a multinational company in Gurugram. 

Here are top 10 updates on JN.1 Covid variant in India, 

1) The Delhi health department has ordered authorities to send an "adequate" number of Covid samples for RT-PCR test amid an uptick in coronavirus cases, said officials as quoted by PTI. 

2) India on Thursday recorded 594 fresh COVID-19 infections, which took the number of active cases from 2,311 the previous day, to 2,669, according to Union Health Ministry data.

3) A meeting was convened by Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj to review the preparedness of health facilities to tackle ILI/SARI (influenza-like illness/severe acute respiratory infections) on Wednesday, officials said.

4) Mock drills were conducted at all the Delhi government hospitals from December 13-17 to assess the preparedness on various parameters such as bed capacity, available human resources, human resource capacity, referral services, testing capacities, logistics, availability of medical oxygen, etc. 

5) The health department in Gurugram has swung into action after corona was confirmed in a woman, who returned from abroad. On Thursday, it identified 62 suspected patients, who came to the OPD of the civil hospital and the primary health centers, PTI reported. 

Also Read: Live updates on Covid cases in India 

6) After identifying them, the samples of all were taken and sent to the lab for testing. Reports of all the suspected patients will come from the lab on Friday. It was a matter of relief that no new COVID-19 patient was found in the last 24 hours.

7) Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde also held a meeting on Thursday to review the COVID-19 situation in the state given the detection of the JN.1 sub-variant in some parts of the country.

8) Kerala reported 265 fresh COVID-19 infections and one death due to the disease in the last 24 hours, according to data on the Union Health Ministry website on Friday.

9) In response to the evolving situation of COVID cases in the state, Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundurao provided reassurance to the people and said that the risk factor is low adding that there are no restrictions at present.

10) Rajasthan also reported two more Covid cases of the new sub-variant on Thursday. This took the overall tally of such cases in the state to four, prompting the health department to issue an advisory for the prevention and control of the infection.

(With inputs from agencies)