Delhi reports first case of Covid-19 sub-variant JN.1: Minister Bharadwaj

Delhi has reported its first case of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1, Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said on Wednesday, while urging people not to panic.

According to an official, three samples were sent for genome sequencing, and one of them tested positive for the JN.1 variant while the remaining two were Omicron.

While confirming the first case of the JN.1 variant, Bharadwaj said, "JN.1 is a sub-variant of Omicron and is mild infection. This is the one spreading in south India. There is no need to panic. It causes mild sickness."

Delhi has around 35 active cases with nine fresh infections being reported on Wednesday, the official told PTI, while adding that a 28-year-old man, who had comorbidities, died, with Covid not being the primary reason.

"The man was not from Delhi and was referred to a private hospital recently. He had multiple comorbidities and the Covid finding was incidental. The sample of the man has been sent for genome sequencing and a report is awaited," the official told PTI.

The official said that the deceased was suffering from multi-system inflammatory syndrome and was "highly comorbid".

"The Covid finding was incidental and mostly it has been seen that patients are referred to Delhi when they are in the last stage of a disease," he added.

Forty more cases of the COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 were recorded, with the tally of cases of the new variant across the country till December 26 rising to 109, official sources said earlier on Wednesday.

Thirty-six cases were detected from Gujarat, 34 from Karnataka, 14 from Goa, nine from Maharashtra, six from Kerala, four each from Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, and two from Telangana, they said. Most of the patients are currently in home isolation, they added.

India recorded 529 fresh COVID-19 cases in a single day, while the country's active infection count stood at 4,093, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

Three new fatalities -- two from Karnataka and one from Gujarat -- were reported in a span of 24 hours, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am.

The number of daily cases had dropped to double-digits till December 5, but infections have again gone up after emergence of a new variant and cold weather conditions.