JN.1 Variant: No New COVID Cases Detected In Odisha So Far, Says Health Services Director

Bhubaneswar: Even as India active caseload touched 1,970 with one death in Kerala, where the COVID sub-variant JN.1 was detected, Director of Health Services Bijay Kumar Mohapatra on Tuesday asserted that Odisha never stopped surveillance and testing of symptomatic cases.

“JN.1 variant has not been detected in Odisha, so far. The government is keeping a watch on the situation and necessary guidelines will be issued if required. In the case of detection of such case, genome sequencing will be carried out,” the official said while appealing to people to go for COVID test in case of any symptom.

He further said that surveillance of symptomatic cases will continue in the state as advised by the central government. “We have sufficient beds and logistics for treatment of patients Adequate testing kits are also available,” said Mohapatra.

He further said symptoms are same as the other known coronavirus variants but no available data is available on the severity of the disease. “There is need to panic, all we need to do is practice caution. We have seen worse situations and are prepared to comply with any inputs from the Centre,” he added.

The Union Health Ministry has written to states and Union Territories, asking them to monitor cases of influenza-like illnesses (ILI), conduct adequate testing, and send all positive samples for whole genome sequencing. Kerala, in particular, has seen a significant increase in daily COVID cases, nearly tripling within a week, along with concerns about the JN.1 sub-variant, where it was detected in a 79-year-old woman from Karakulam in Thiruvananthapuram district on December 8. The woman had mild symptoms of ILI and has since recovered.

Kerala’s neighbouring state Karnataka has also asked senior citizens to mask up.

Detected first in Luxembourg, JN.1 COVID-19 sub-variant has spread across the world, with the United States now recording it to be the second-most prevalent strain. The other, BA.2.86, also known as the ‘Pirola’ variant, was first detected in Denmark in July.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has also said that the virus is evolving and changing and urged the member states to continue with strong surveillance and sequence sharing.