63 cases of JN.1 detected in India: Sources

Sixty-three cases of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 were reported in the country till Sunday, including 34 detected in Goa, official sources said on Monday.

Nine cases have been detected from Maharashtra, eight from Karnataka, six from Kerala, four from Tamil Nadu and two from Telangana, they added.

NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr V K Paul said last week that the scientific community in India is closely investigating the new Covid sub-variant and stressed the need for states to ramp up testing and strengthen their surveillance systems.

Even though the number of cases is rising and the JN.1 sub-variant has been detected in the country, 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 had said.

There is also no increase in hospitalisation rates and COVID-19 is an incidental finding in those hospitalised due to other medical conditions, they had said.

In a letter to the states and Union territories last week, Union Health Secretary Sudhansh Pant underlined the critical COVID-19 control-and-management strategies considering the upcoming festive season and advised them to put in place the requisite public health measures to minimise the risk of increase in the transmission of the disease.

The states have been urged to ensure effective compliance of the detailed operational guidelines for a revised Covid surveillance strategy shared by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The states have been asked to monitor and report district-wise cases of Influenza-like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) from all health facilities regularly for an early detection of a rising trend of cases.

India saw a single-day rise of 628 new coronavirus cases while the number of active cases went up to 4,054, the Union health ministry said on Monday.

The death toll due to the viral disease was recorded at 5,33,334, with one new death reported from Kerala in a span of 24 hours, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am.

The JN.1 (BA.2.86.1.1) sub-variant of Covid emerged in August in Luxembourg. It is a descendant of the BA.2.86 lineage (Pirola) of SARS COV2.