With JN.1 cases rising to 109, India registers 529 COVID cases in single-day spike
There is no cause for alarm as 92 per cent of those infected are opting for home-based treatment, which indicates a mild illness, according to health officials
With India recording 40 more cases of the COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1, the tally of the new variant cases across the country till December 26 rose to 109, official sources said on Wednesday (December 26).
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, the officials said. Most of the patients are currently in home isolation, they added. In all, India saw a single-day rise of 529 cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday (December 26), while the number of active cases of the infection was recorded at 4,093, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr VK Paul had said last week that the new variant was being closely investigated while stressing 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 have 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 said.
Union Health Secretary Sudhansh Pant last week had written to states and Union territories calling for requisite public health measures to be put in place and underlined the critical COVID-19 control and management strategies considering the ongoing festive season.
States have been urged to ensure effective compliance of operational guidelines for revised surveillance strategy for COVID-19 shared by the Union health ministry. They have been asked to monitor and report district-wise cases of Influenza-like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) in all health facilities regularly for early detection of rising trend of cases.
The number of daily cases had dropped to double-digits till December 5, but infections have again gone up after the emergence of a new variant and cold weather conditions.
The daily numbers were in lakhs at the peak of the pandemic, which began in early 2020 and has seen more than 4.5 crore people getting infected and over 5.3 lakh deaths in about four years since then across the country.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease stands at more than 4.4 crore with a national recovery rate of 98.81 per cent, while the fatality rate stands at 1.19 per cent, according to the Union health ministry website.
According to the website, 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccines have so far been administered in the country.
(With agency inputs)
