798 new Covid cases, 5 deaths; 157 sub-variant cases reported
Covid-19 cases: India reported 798 new Covid-19 cases within the last 24 hours, pushing the active caseload to 4,091, accompanied by five fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry's latest update.
Among the newly reported cases, the bulletin highlighted the distribution of deaths - two from Kerala, and one each from Maharashtra, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu. This raised the nation's total Covid-related deaths to 5,33,351. The emergence of the Covid-19 sub-variant JN.1 has become a significant concern, with 157 cases detected across the country. Kerala recorded the highest count at 78 cases, followed by Gujarat with 34 cases, according to data from the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG).
In Delhi, Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj noted the recovery of a 50-year-old patient diagnosed with the JN.1 sub-variant, assuring that there were presently no active cases of this variant in the national capital.
The spread of the JN.1 sub-variant has been observed in nine states and Union territories, including Kerala, Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Delhi, as per the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG). The Consortium's data revealed 141 recorded Covid cases in December and 16 cases in November linked to the JN.1 variant.
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Initially classified as a variant of interest (VOI) within the BA.2.86 sub-lineages, JN.1 has exhibited an escalated prevalence, prompting global attention as cases surged across multiple countries in recent weeks.
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