Amid the rising number of coronavirus cases, a total of 511 cases of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 have been detected in the country till Tuesday (January 2). According to the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), under the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the country also reported five deaths due to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.
Maximum cases from Karnataka
"A total of 511 cases of the JN.1 series variant have been reported from 11 states till January 2, 2024. Karnataka has reported 199 cases of the sub-variant. Kerala has reported 148 cases. 47 cases have been reported from Goa, 36 from Gujarat, 32 from Maharashtra," the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu has reported 26 cases of JN.1 sub-variant. Delhi has reported 15 cases, and 4 cases have been reported from Rajasthan. Telangana has reported two cases. Odisha and Haryana have reported one case each.
India's COVID tally
The Health Ministry data stated a total of 602 new cases have been registered in the last 24 hours, and the total number of cases stood at cases are 4,50,15,136. The active caseload stood at 4,440, which showed a decrease of 125 since Tuesday. 722 people recovered in the last 24 hours and the total recovered cases stood at 4,44,77,272. State-wise distribution indicated 2 deaths in Kerala in the last 24 hours.
The deceased has been identified as a 66-year-old male with Chronic Liver Disease, Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS), and Sepsis and a 79-year-old female with coronary artery disease (CAD), T2DM, and Sepsis.
Karnataka reported one Covid death in the last 24 hours. A 45-year-old male with hypertension (HTN) from Vijayanagar lost his life due to COVID. Punjab reported one Covid death. The deceased has been identified as a 62-year-old male with Pulmonary Kochs and Lung injury.
WHO terms JN.1 strain 'variant of interest'
The World Health Organisation has classified COVID-19 strain JN.1 as a separate "variant of interest" given its rapidly increasing spread. The health agency also 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. The WHO also anticipated that this variant may cause an increase in SARS-CoV-2 cases amid a surge of infections of other viral and bacterial infections, especially in countries entering the winter season.
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