Three people, including a six-month-old baby tested positive for COVID-19 in West Bengal, officials said on Friday (December 22). However, the mutant of the infection is yet to be ascertained if the trio were infected by the new JN.1 strain of COVID-19, they said. The child, a resident of neighbouring Bihar, is undergoing treatment at the Medical College and Hospital Kolkata (MCHK) while the other two are admitted at two separate private hospitals, they said.
"These were suffering from high fever, cough and cold and underwent RT-PCR and tested positive for COVID-19," the officer of the private hospital said.
A senior official of the West Bengal Health Department said that they were keeping a tab on the matter.
"The state health department never said that COVID-19 has been eradicated. We have to realise that this is going to stay. As of now, we have not come across any such case. However, our department is very much vigilant," the official said.
He said that the state health department will continue to keep a close watch on the influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) cases as per the guidelines of the Centre.
On Wednesday, the West Bengal Health Department and other states participated in a COVID-19 review meeting with the Union Health Ministry.
First COVID case detected in Noida
Earlier today, a Noida resident tested positive. Such COVID case was reported in the city after a gap of several months, officials said. It is yet to be confirmed whether the person was infected by the latest sub-variant of coronavirus.
The patient is a 54-year-old male who lives in Noida but works at a multinational company in Gurugram, Gautam Buddh Nagar Chief Medical Officer Dr Sunil Sharma said on Thursday.
"His test sample has been sent to Delhi for genome sequencing. The result is awaited," Sharma said.
District Surveillance Officer and public healthcare expert Dr Amit Kumar said the patient travelled to Nepal earlier this month and also went to work at his Gurugram office after returning.
(With PTI inputs)
