Coronavirus Latest News Today: Kerala witnessed a rapid surge in coronavirus cases at a time when several southeast Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are reporting record surge in corona cases. The reports of Kerala detecting the JN.1, a sub-variant of Omicron, have raised fresh concerns of Covid. However, experts stated there is nothing to worry about, but stressed the need for continuous monitoring of the viruses.
It is believed that if the COVID cases continue to rise in the state, the Kerala government might impose restrictions and preventive measures in sensitive areas.
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COVID Cases Rise in Kerala
In just a month, active cases in Kerala spiked from 33 to 768 causing heightened concern. “Common symptoms associated with JN.1 include fever, coughing, tiredness, nasal congestion, runny nose, diarrhoea, and headaches,” Dr. Dipu T.S., Associate Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, Amrita Hospital, Kochi, told IANS.
He noted that “it remains too early to definitively assess the severity and public health impact, necessitating ongoing research and surveillance”.
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Experts Call For Monitoring Of The Situation
“India need not worry, but we should be vigilant. The vigilance should be only for the scientific community, and not for the common public,” Dr Gilada added.
The latest data from the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) has confirmed the presence of JN.1 variant in Kerala, which is currently seeing an uptick in Covid cases.
JN.1 is a sub-lineage of the BA.2.86 Omicron variant and was first detected in Luxembourg in August, before spreading to other countries. BA.2.86, also known as the “Pirola” variant, was first detected in Denmark in July.
“This is not a new variant, but for India it is new. It has been already prominent in 38 countries globally and mostly it is seen in the UK, Portugal, US and some of the other countries,” Dr Ishwar Gilada, an infectious disease expert, told IANS.
“The peculiarity of this variant is there are some infections occurring which have upper respiratory type involvement. That means runny nose, cough, cold, and sometimes breathlessness. But till today, there has not been a requirement for oxygen, ICU bed, ventilator and there are no deaths.
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COVID Cases in India
The development comes as India on Thursday recorded 237 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases have increased to 1,185, according to the Union Health Ministry. The death toll was recorded at 5,33,309, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The country’s Covid case tally is 4.50 crore (4,50,03,830). The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,44,69,336, and the national recovery rate stands at 98.81 per cent, according to the health ministry’s website.
On Wednesday, India recorded a single-day rise of 252 new coronavirus infections, the highest since June 2 this year, while the tally of active cases have increased to 1,091, according to Union Health Ministry data.
The death toll was recorded at 5,33,308, the data updated at 8 am stated. The country’s Covid case tally is 4.50 crore (4,50,03,593).
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,44,69,194, and the national recovery rate stands at 98.81 per cent, according to the health ministry’s website. The case fatality rate stands at 1.19 per cent.
