On December 8, the first case of JN.1 variant was reported in Kerala. Since then testing and surveillance have increased. So far, 22 cases of JN.1 variant have been reported in the country. The variant is spreading faster and has already been detected in several other countries including the US where it is accountable for a sizeable portion of the COVID cases.
On the newly found variant and its nature of transmission, former AIIMS director and senior pulmonologist, Dr Randeep Guleria said that the new subvariant of COVID is not causing severe infections and hospitalisation. "It is more transmissible, it is spreading more rapidly, and it is gradually becoming a dominant variant. It is causing more infections but the data also suggests that it is not causing severe infections or hospitalisations. Most of the symptoms are predominantly in the upper airways, like fever, cough, cold, sore throat, running nose and body aches," Dr Guleria told news agency ANI.
