Close X
Saturday, November 23, 2024
ADVT 
India

21 cases of new Covid variant JN. 1 reported across country

Darpan News Desk IANS, 20 Dec, 2023 12:45 PM
  • 21 cases of new Covid variant JN. 1 reported across country

New Delhi, Dec 20 (IANS) The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday said that 21 cases of the new variant JN.1 have been reported from across the country.

The source said that 19 cases of the new coronavirus variant has been reported from Goa while one each from Maharashtra and Kerala.

Earlier in the day, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya chaired a high-level meeting to review the Covid-19 situation in India and preparedness of public health system for its surveillance, containment, and management in view of the recent spike in cases in some states.

The meeting was also attended by Union Ministers of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prof S.P. Singh Baghel and Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, and NITI Aayog's Member, Health, Dr V.K. Paul, Member.

State Health Ministers Alo Libang (Arunachal Pradesh), Brajesh Pathak (Uttar Pradesh), Dhan Singh Rawat, (Uttarakhand), Dinesh Gundu Rao, (Karnataka), Anil Vij (Haryana), Veena George (Kerala), Vishwajit Pratapsingh Rane (Goa), Keshab Mahanta (Assam), Banna Gupta, (Jharkhand), Dr Balbir Singh (Punjab), Saurabh Bharadwaj (Delhi); Dr. (Col.) Dhani Ram Shandil (retd) (Himachal Pradesh); Prof Dr. Tanajirao Sawant (Maharashtra), Damodar Rajanarasimha (Telangana), Dr Sapam Ranjan (Manipur), and Niranjan Pujari (Odisha) were also present, among others.

During the meeting, Mandaviya underlined the challenge posed by the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in some countries across the world such as China, Brazil, Germany, and the US and noted the importance of being prepared and remaining alert against new and emerging strains of Covid-19, especially in view of the upcoming festive season.

He also reiterated that Covid is not over yet, and requested states to monitor emerging evidences of Covid-19 cases, symptoms and case severity to plan appropriate public health response.

Mandaviya also stressed the need for collective efforts between the Centre and the States to deal with the emerging situation in the spirit of "Whole of Government" approach. He directed for strengthening the surveillance system for whole genome sequencing of positive case samples to track the variants through Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) network to ensure timely detection of newer variants, circulating in the country.

"This would facilitate undertaking of appropriate public health measures in a timely manner," he noted.

"States/UTs have been requested to ramp up testing and refer large number of samples of Covid-19 positive cases and pneumonia-like illness to INSACOG Genome Sequencing Laboratories (IGSLs) on a daily basis, for sequencing, to track new variants, if any," the ministry said in a statement.

The Union Health Minister also urged all the states to remain alert, increase surveillance and ensure adequate stock of medicines, oxygen cylinders and concentrators, ventilators, and vaccines.

Mandaviya asked officials to undertake mock drills every three months at both the Central and State levels to assess functionality of PSA plants, oxygen concentrators and cylinders, ventilators, etc., and encouraged the sharing of best practices.

He also urged states to create awareness on respiratory hygiene and ensure dissemination of factually correct information and counter fake news to manage infodemic and mitigate any panic.

The Union Health Minister urged States/UTs to share information on cases, tests, positivity etc., in real time on the Covid portal to enable timely monitoring and prompt public health measures. He assured the states of all support from the Centre.

Union Health Secretary Sudhansh Pant briefed the meeting on the global Covid-19 situation and the domestic scenario.

Pant said that while active Covid cases in India are significantly less compared to the global scenario, in the last two weeks, there has been a steep rise in active cases from 115 on December 6 to 614 on date.

It was also noted that 92.8 per cent of the cases are home isolated, indicating mild illness.

"No increase in hospitalisation rates have been witnessed due to Covid-19, the cases that are hospitalised are due to other medical conditions – Covid-19 is an incidental finding. A rise in daily positivity rate has been observed in a few states like Kerala, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Karnataka.

"On the new JN.1 variant of SARS-CoV-2, it was informed that the variant is currently under intense scientific scrutiny, but not a cause of immediate concern. No clustering of cases has been observed in India due to JN.1 and all the cases were found to be mild and all of them have recovered without any complications," the ministry added.

MORE India ARTICLES

Man held at IGI airport with over 4 kgs of gold bars worth Rs 2 cr

Man held at IGI airport with over 4 kgs of gold bars worth Rs 2 cr
Sharing the details, a senior customs official said that on the basis of profiling, Customs officers at IGI Airport have seized gold bars weighing 4204 grams valued at Rs 2.24 crore brought by one Indian national from Bangkok.

Man held at IGI airport with over 4 kgs of gold bars worth Rs 2 cr

Death threats to PM, Yogi and to blast Mumbai hospital

Death threats to PM, Yogi and to blast Mumbai hospital
An anonymous person called up the Mumbai Police Control Room and allegedy issued death threats to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, an official said here on Tuesday. The caller, who had dialled the police control number late on Monday night, also threatened to blow up the government-run Sir J. J. Hospital in Mumbai.  

Death threats to PM, Yogi and to blast Mumbai hospital

Technical glitch forces Air India Mumbai-NY flight to return from Iran airspace

Technical glitch forces Air India Mumbai-NY flight to return from Iran airspace
A technical glitch reportedly forced an Air India Mumbai-New York flight to return from Iranian airspace early on Tuesday morning, official sources said. The flight, AI-119, bound for JFK Airport in New York took off around 2.20 am and returned after a few hours.

Technical glitch forces Air India Mumbai-NY flight to return from Iran airspace

Punjab: Sugarcane farmers start indefinite protest over procurement price

Punjab: Sugarcane farmers start indefinite protest over procurement price
Hundreds of the protesters are sitting on the highway, waving farmer union flags and shouting slogans against the government. Several farmer unions under the banner of Samyukt Kisan Morcha have gathered for the protest. They have also blocked the highway, due to which the movement of the vehicular traffic has been hampered.

Punjab: Sugarcane farmers start indefinite protest over procurement price

Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: Rescue team to begin vertical drilling

Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: Rescue team to begin vertical drilling
Fresh pictures that emerged from the site of the Silkyara tunnel collapse in Uttarakhand showed that the 41 labourers trapped inside were mostly safe, an official said on Tuesday, adding that those engaged in the rescue operations will now try to drill the tunnel vertically to create an evacuation passage. Thick pipes have been brought to the Silkyara Tunnel by helicopter from Odisha and a large vertical drilling machine has been brought to create the evacuation passage.

Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: Rescue team to begin vertical drilling

More expressways, corridors planned in UP

More expressways, corridors planned in UP
The Uttar Pradesh government will develop more industrial corridors along with the five new expressways across the state. A fund of Rs 7,000 crore has been allocated for the development of these corridors.  

More expressways, corridors planned in UP