A new sub-variant of COVID-19, JN.1, has been detected in Kerala — amid a rise in the number of cases which reached 280 in 24 hours on Friday.
The India SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), a multi-laboratory, multi-agency, pan-India network tasked with sequencing and monitoring new COVID-19 variants, confirmed that on 18th November, a 79-year-old woman with mild symptoms of influenza-like illnesses (ILI) tested positive for the JN.1 sub-variant.
On October 25, an Indian traveller from Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchirapalli district also tested positive for the JN.1 sub-variant in Singapore.
These cases have triggered fresh concern, prompting authorities to monitor the spread of the virus and take preventive measures.
The JN.1 sub-variant is a descendant of the Pirola variant (BA.2.86) which was first detected in the United States in September 2023. Since then, it has spread to several countries, including India.
While India is seeing a sudden rise in COVID cases, doctors told Indian media that more than 90 percent of the COVID-19 cases in India at present are mild enough to recover from in isolation at home.