New Delhi: The World Health Organisation on Tuesday classified the JN-1 coronavirus strain as a ‘variant of interest’. However, the variant does not pose much of a health risk, it said. Based on the available evidence, the additional global public health risk from JN-1 is currently considered to be low, the WHO said.
JN-1 was previously classified as a ‘variant of interest’ as a part of its parent lineage BA-2-86. The current vaccines protect against severe disease and death caused by JN-1 and other circulating variants of the COVID-19 virus, the UN agency said. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said earlier this month that the subvariant JN-1 caused an estimated 15% to 29% of cases in the US as of December 8, according to the agency’s latest estimates.
There is currently no evidence that JN-1 poses a greater risk to public health than other variants currently circulating, and the vaccine can protect Americans against the variants, it said. According to the CDC, JN-1 was first detected in the United States in September. Last week, China detected seven infections of the COVID subvariant.
J.N. in India The first case of COVID-19 was detected on December 8 in a sample taken from a woman in Kerala who had mild symptoms. A passenger from Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchirappalli district was found infected with JN-1 in Singapore. Amid the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, doctors in Delhi have advised people to wear masks, avoid crowding, and eat a healthy diet.
288 new cases of coronavirus have been reported in India. The number of patients has gone up to 1,970. The death toll has mounted to 5,33,318 while the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country stands at 4.50 crore (4,50,05,364), according to Union Health Ministry data updated at 8 a.m. on Tuesday. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,44,70,076, pushing the national recovery rate to 98.81 percent, the data stated. The case fatality rate stands at 1.19 percent.
According to the ministry’s website, 220.67 crore doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the country so far. According to government sources, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will review the preparedness of health facilities and services today in view of the increase in cases of respiratory illness, including COVID, in some states.
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