NEW DELHI: Sixty-three cases of Covid-19 sub-variant JN.1 were reported in the country, including 34 in Goa, official sources said on Monday. However, they added that the new strain is not leading to any severity or hospitalisations.
Dr N K Arora, India SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) head said, “They are monitoring the situation and will be able tell in a few weeks about how the new sub variant is behaving clinically in India.”
“We must wait and see how this new virus expands in India. It is good to be vigilant, but we should not panic. The virus is mild and it is not leading to hospitalisations,” he added. Even though the number of cases is rising, there is no cause of immediate concern as 92 per cent of those infected are opting for home-based treatment, indicating a mild illness, officials said.
According to the officials, 63 cases of JN.1, which is leading a surge in Covid-19 cases in the US, China, and Singapore, were reported till Sunday, of which the maximum was from Goa. It is followed by Maharashtra (9), Karnataka (8), Kerala (6), Tamil Nadu (4) and Telangana (2). Arora said that one of the reasons for Goa reporting the maximum number of cases could be an increase in domestic and international tourists due to festive season.
He said that there has been a dip in Covid testing. He said, “In the recent meeting, all the state and union territories were asked to ramp up testing as it has dipped. We have to see how the virus behaves in the coming three to four weeks as testing ramps up,” he said.
Stressing that each virus behaves different, he said that they must see how the new strain impacts India. While Omicron’s BA.4 and BA.5 wreaked havoc globally, it did not have much impact in India, he said. Arora said apart from the Delta variant, no other variants have caused that much damage and deaths in India. “Omicron has 55 subvariants. But it did not threaten India as seriously as Delta did.”
He, however, said that those above 60 years and high-risk people who are co-morbid should be careful and follow precautions. “They have to be very careful. If they have a common cold, then they should get tested. If they face any health concerns, they should immediately seek medical advice.” He added that only those people should take the vaccine who are co-morbid and have not taken precautionary or the third dose.