Covid-19 HIGHLIGHTS: Two Cases Of Sub-Variant JN.1 Detected In Odisha
Covid-19 News HIGHLIGHTS: Please follow this space for the latest updates on the rise of COVID-19 cases and related developments in the country.
Background
Covid News HIGHLIGHTS: Please follow this space for all the latest news and updates related to Covid-19 cases in India.
The country has been witnessing a downward trend in the reported infections since the last two days with 572 fresh cases recorded on Tuesday, as per the data published by Union health ministry. The fresh cases have taken the number of active cases to 4,565 in the country.
In a span of 24 hours, two people succumbed to the infection, one each in Karnataka and Haryana, as per the ministry's data.
The number of people who recovered from the disease is at over 4.4 crore with a national recovery rate of 98.81 per cent, according to the ministry's website.
As many as 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccines have been administered so far, as per the ministry.
There number of daily cases had dropped to double digits till December 5, but with the emergence of a new variant and cold weather conditions, cases have gone up again.
The World Health Organisation classified the new variant, JN.1 as a separate "variant of interest" given its rapidly-increasing spread, but said it poses a "low" global public health risk.
On Tuesday, India logged a total of 312 cases of Covid-19 with JN.1 variant, with about 47 per cent of them recorded in Kerala, as per the INSACOG's data.
So far, 10 states and Union territories have reported the presence of the variant.
These states include Kerala (147), Goa (51), Gujarat (34), Maharashtra (26), Tamil Nadu (22), Delhi (16), Karnataka (eight), Rajasthan (five), Telangana (two) and Odisha (one), according to the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG).
In December, there were 279 Covid cases with the presence of JN.1, while 33 such cases were detected in November.
The JN.1 sub-variant was earlier classified as a variant of interest as part of the BA.2.86 sub-lineages, the parent lineage that is classified as a VOI, said the WHO.
Two Cases Of Covid-19 Sub-Variant JN.1 Detected In Odisha
Two cases of Covid-19 sub-variant JN.1 have been detected in Odisha, a senior official said on Thursday.
The two cases were detected in Sundargarh and Bhubaneswar, Director of Health Services Bijay Kumar Mohapatra said, adding that the health conditions of both patients are stable.
"Samples of 28 people who were found to be COVID-positive were sent for genome sequencing and of them, two were found to be infected with the JN.1 variant," he said.
Omicron BA.5 More Deadlier Covid Variants, Flu: US CDC
Patients hospitalised with Omicron BA.5 are more likely to die than those with other Covid-19 variants or with flu, according to a new study led by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as reported by news agency IANS.
The study, published in the Open Forum Infectious Diseases, looked at the proportion of hospitalised Covid-19 and influenza patients admitted to a US intensive care unit (ICU) in 2021 and 2022.
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