Amid the growing threat of rising cases of the coronavirus, a total of 69 cases of JN.1 subvariant have been reported in the country till Monday, December 25. According to the Health Ministry data, as many as 34 cases were reported from Karnataka, 14 from Goa, nine from Maharashtra, six from Kerala, 4 Tamil Nadu and two from Telangana.
The total number of active cases in the country was recorded at 4,170. Karnataka reported 436 cases, Kerala 3096, Maharashtra 168, Gujarat 56, and Tamil Nadu 139 cases, according to Union Health Ministry data.
What did former AIIMS director say?
Meanwhile, amid rising concerns over the emergence of the new variant of the coronavirus, Dr Randeep Guleria, former director of AIIMS Delhi said the cases will see a rise during the winter season. "This is the season when you will see viral infection and respiratory infection becoming more. Every year we see them whether it's influenza, COVID, RSV or other viral infections. And that happens because of the temperature and crowding," he said.
"As it's a holiday season, people travel so they will carry the virus with them. There are crowds and many of the crowds stay indoors because of the cold weather, which leads to the spread of infection which is different in different people. So I would say what we need to do is first of all COVID appropriate behaviour like wash your hands regularly if you have a cough, and cold so that you don't spread the infection to others," Guleria added.
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.
(With inputs from ANI)
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