Covid-19 JN.1 variant update: India registers 63 cases of new strain

JN.1 Covid- 19 variant: The Karnataka government on Monday said 34 cases of Covid-19's variant JN.1 have been found in the state so far

India registered a single-day rise of 628 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, taking the total number of active cases to 4,054, according to data updated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare till Tuesday morning. Of those, sixty-three cases of Covid-19 sub-variant JN.1 were reported in India till Sunday.

The total number of Covid-19 cases in the country stands at 45,009,248 (45 million). The total death count stood at 533,334 (0.53 million).

JN.1 Covid-19 variant: Karnataka registers 34 cases of JN.1 variant

The Karnataka government on Monday said 34 cases of Covid-19's variant JN.1 had been found in the state so far, which include three deaths. Twenty of these 34 cases of JN.1 detected in Karnataka are from Bengaluru alone.

Out of 34 JN.1 cases in the state, 20 are from Bengaluru city, while four are from Mysuru, three from Mandya, one each from Ramanagara, Bengaluru Rural, Kodagu and Chamarajanagara.

The Karnataka Department of Health & Family Welfare Services said in a release," "Samples of Covid-19 positive cases were tested for the newly reported Omicron variant of Covid-19, i.e., JN.1 at National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune and National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru. Genome sequencing results of 60 samples are available as on date, out of 192 samples submitted....A total of 34 cases have been detected as JN.1 variant."

The results of the remaining positive cases may be available by December 27.

JN.1 Covid-19 variant: Health officials asked to ensure availability of ventilators, oxygen cylinders

Maharashtra Minister Sanjay Bansode asked health officials to make ventilators, oxygen cylinders and other necessary equipment available at government hospitals. Bansode stated that the health department must take precautionary measures and ensure the availability of necessary equipment and medicines at all government-run facilities.

Covid-19 India update: Kerala registers 128 fresh Covid-19 cases

Kerala reported 128 fresh Covid-19 cases and one death due to the disease in the last 24 hours, according to data on the Union Health Ministry website on Monday. Of the 315 active coronavirus infections reported nationwide till 8 am, 128 were from Kerala, taking the number of active cases in the state to 3,128, as per the website.

JN.1 Covid-19 variant: States, UTs urged to use Covid-19 control-and-management strategies

Last week, Union Health Secretary Sudhansh Pant emphasised the employment of Covid-19 control-and-management strategies considering the holiday season and advised states and Union territories to implement public health measures to reduce the risk of the transmission of the disease.

States have also been asked to adhere to compliance with the operational guidelines for a revised Covid-19 surveillance strategy shared by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

JN.1 Covid-19 variant symptoms

Fever, cough, cold and sore throat are some of the symptoms of the new JN.1 Covid variant. Fatigue, nausea and uneasiness in breathing are also reported in some cases. Patients can also report other symptoms like diarrhoea and body aches.