According to sources from the Health Ministry on Tuesday, there have been 69 reports of JN.1 subvariant COVID cases nationwide as of December 25. 34 cases from Karnataka, 14 from Goa, 9 from Maharashtra, 6 from Kerala, 4 from Tamil Nadu, and 2 from Telangana were reported, according to the sources. There are 4,170 active cases nationwide, according to the data. Union Health Ministry data shows that Karnataka reported 436 cases, Kerala 3096, Maharashtra 168, Gujarat 56, and Tamil Nadu 139 cases.
Meanwhile, amid rising concerns over the emergence of the new variant of the coronavirus, Dr Randeep Guleria, former director of AIIMS Delhi said, “This is the season when you will see viral infection, 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.”
“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.
Thus, in order to prevent the infection from spreading to others, I would say that the most important thing we can do is practice COVID-19 appropriate behavior, such as frequently washing your hands after a cold or cough,” he continued. He went on, “Avoid crowded areas, especially if you’re sick with a cold, cough, or fever because you could be infecting others.” JN.1 is now considered to be a variant of interest by the World Health Organization (WHO), different from its parent lineage BA.2.86. The global health organization did, however, stress that, according to available data, the overall risk posed by JN.1 is still low.