COVID-19 cases on upswing, JN.1 subvariant in focus; what we know so far

The maximum number of JN.1 cases have been recorded in Kerala so far

An uptick in the number of coronavirus cases across the country has spread concern, with the number of daily infections rising to a seven-month high.

A total of 614 cases were recorded across the country in the last 24 hours, the health ministry said on December 20, which marks a significant jump as compared to 115 cases registered on December 6. This was also the highest number of daily infections recorded since May 21.

The upswing in infections has drawn focus towards JN.1 subvariant of COVID-19, which comes through the lineage of the Omicron variant that was blamed for a surge in infections in 2021-end.

NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr V K Paul confirmed that the focus is on JN.1, even as only 21 coronavirus infections so far in India have been linked to the variant.

Nineteen of the JN.1-caused COVID-19 cases have been recorded in Kerala, and one each in Maharashtra and Goa.

Also Read: JN.1 subvariant: Karnataka issues ‘mask up’ advisory, increases Covid-19 testing

'Important to be alert'

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, who reviewed the countrywide COVID-19 situation on December 20, said it is "important to be on alert" and "be prepared against new and emerging strains of the coronavirus".

The review came in the aftermath of 16 deaths due to COVID-19 being recorded in the last two weeks. Over the past 24 hours, three fatalities due to the contagious disease were recorded.

As part of his review, Mandaviya took stock of the preparation of public health systems because of the rising cases.

"No increase in hospitalisation rates has been witnessed due to COVID-19. The cases that have been hospitalised were due to other medical conditions and COVID was an incidental finding," Union Health Secretary Sudhansh Pant said.

Variant of interest

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on December 19 said it was categorising JN.1 as a separate "variant of interest (VoI)". Earlier, it was included as VoI under the A.2.86 sublineages.

Notably, the global health body categorises those COVID-19 variants as VoI which can increase their pace of transmission through genetic changes and could also potentially evade vaccines.

"Based on the available evidence, the additional global public health risk posed by JN.1 is currently evaluated as low," WHO added.

Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, COVID-19 technical lead of the UN health agency, clarified in a video message that the available COVID-19 vaccines protect against "all the circulating variants, including JN.1".

Health experts in India, however, reiterated that the public needs to remain calm as most of the COVID-19 infections recorded in recent days are mild and the available treatments are effective.

The government's recent steps to review the countrywide COVID-19 situation "should not be over-interpreted by citizens", Chandrakant Lahariya, a senior consultant physician told PTI. "And there is no reason to be worried. We humans live in a world inhabited by viruses, which are many folds higher than humans on this planet," he added.

Notably, India was one of the countries that faced two brutal COVID-19 waves during the first two years of the pandemic. The country's overall infection count to date stands at 4.5 crore, and the death toll at 5.33 lakh. There are currently 2,311 active cases, as per the health ministry data.