- Three people, including a six-month-old baby, have been confirmed to be infected with Covid-19 in West Bengal.
- The Karnataka government has set up a cabinet sub-committee to deal with and monitor the Covid-19 situation in the state.
- Common symptoms include fever, runny nose, sore throat, and headache.
Covid 19 cases have started increasing again in India. Along with this, the menace of JN.1 sub-variant also reported its first case in Kerala.
The JN.1 is a derivative of the “Pyrola” type BA 2.86, an Omicron subtype. JN.1 contains an additional mutated receptor binding domain (L455S) compared to BA 2.86. JN.1 has extensive resistance across receptor binding domain classes 1, 2 and 3 and BA 2.86 and showed higher immune evasion compared to other resistant strains.
COVID updates
Talking about COVID cases in India, 594 new COVID-19 infections were reported in India on Thursday, while the number of active cases increased to 2,669 from 2,311 the previous day. The death toll rose to 5,33,327 with six more infected with the virus – three from Kerala, two from Karnataka, and one from Punjab.
Rajasthan Health Department has set up a state level committee for the prevention and control of Covid-19. The order to set up such a committee was issued by Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health Department Subra Singh on Friday evening.
Singh said the committee is being set up given the rising number of Covid infections in other states including Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. Medical Education Commissioner Sivaprasad Nagate has been appointed as the Nodal Officer of the ‘State Covid Management Committee’.
The Karnataka government has set up a cabinet sub-committee to deal with and monitor the Covid-19 situation in the state. The panel includes Health Minister Dinesh Kundurao, Cabinet Ministers Saran Prakash Patil, Dr. HC Mahadevappa and Dr. MC Sudhakar.
Health Ministry data indicated that there were 2,997 active Covid-19 cases in India as of Friday morning. Andhra state has kept medicines ready. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was informed in a review meeting on Friday that oxygen infrastructure is also being prepared and 57,000 oxygen beds have been kept ready.
Three people, including a six-month-old baby, have been confirmed to be infected with Covid-19 in West Bengal. It is yet to be ascertained whether the three were infected with the new JN.1 strain of Covid-19.
In Kerala, “the situation is completely under control. We should expect more cases as the airport surveillance carried out at the Singapore airport shows that 19 passengers from India were spotted with JN1 in various areas, not just in Kerala. We have plan A, B, C ready. Nothing to worry about. The prevalence of this variant is high but the severity is low,” Health Minister Veena George said on Friday.
Common symptoms include fever, runny nose, sore throat, and headache.Some may also experience mild gastrointestinal symptoms.
According to Dr. Prakash, some patients may experience mild upper respiratory symptoms, which usually improve within four to five days.
According to media reports, some symptoms include extreme fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, and loss of taste or smell.
Countries approaching winter should be aware that, collectively, SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) and co-circulating pathogens (influenza, influenza, rhinoviruses, etc.) may increase the respiratory disease burden, says the WHO.
