The World Health Organisation has classified the new COVID-19 variant as the “variant of interest”, but it has also added that the new variant does not pose much threat to public health. The JN.1 variant has sparked concerns among various healthcare professionals and experts, authorities and the general public in India.
This new covid subvariant has been initially identified in Luxembourg It is a descendant of the Pirola variant (BA.2.86), which however has its origins in the Omicron sub-variant. There is a steep increase visible in this type of variant which has in turn led to an increase in the active cases of India’s COVID-19 cases which reached a total of 1,828 on Monday, December 18.
One person died in Kerala where JN.1 was recently detected.
The central government has also issued some health advisories to the state governments by urging them to take some adequate health arrangements in response to this rising health concern.
According to World Health Organisation(WHO), the new symptoms of this new variant may include fever, sore throat, runny nose and headaches. Most of the patients experience mild upper respiratory symptoms which are reportedly to improve within four to five days.
