Covid Cases India LIVE Updates: JN.1 variant more transmissible, more infectious, says ex-ICMR DG

Covid-19 cases in India LIVE: Stating that JN.1 COVID variant is more transmissible and more infectious, ex-ICMR DGDr Soumya Swaminathan said, as quoted by news agency ANI, “”It belongs to the same Omicron family, but because it has certain mutations, which makes it more transmissible, more infectious. So it’s been classified as a variant of interest by the WHO. However, till now, the public health risk is still low in the sense that because we all have immunity now because of the vaccines and the natural infections, we’ve had in the past, and that immunity still seems to be quite strong. It’s still protecting most of us from getting severely ill. What we are seeing now is a surge of infections and because the testing has been stepped up in the recent few days, as well as the genomics surveillance, the more we test, the more we are going to detect, and also we’re going to find more JN 1. variant in the country…”

Karnataka on Friday reported 173 fresh cases of Covid-19 and two coronavirus related deaths in the last 24 hours. This takes the total number of active cases in the state to 702, the health bulletin said. With this, the total number of Covid-19 related deaths in the state after the recent spike in cases is more than 10, they said.

Covid-19 cases in India LIVE: Karnataka on Friday reported 173 fresh cases of Covid-19 and two coronavirus related deaths in the last 24 hours. This takes the total number of active cases in the state to 702, the health bulletin said. 

With this, the total number of Covid-19 related deaths in the state after the recent spike in cases is more than 10, they said. According to the bulletin issued by the health department, in the last 24 hours, 37 patients have been discharged, total 8,349 tests have been conducted including – 6,400 RTPCR and 1,949 Rapid Antigen tests. 

Positivity rate stands at 2.07 per cent while case fatality rate was 1.15 per cent. Maximum number of tests were conducted in Bengaluru. Out of the 2,616 tests conducted, 82 have been found positive for the virus, which is the highest as compared to other districts of the state. The deceased were aged 59 and 69 respectively both admitted in Bengaluru Urban district. Both of them had symptoms of fever and cough, the bulletin stated. 

As on Friday, the total active cases reported in the state stands at 702. Out of these, 649 people are in home isolation while the remaining 53 are hospitalised, it added. (PTI)

Covid-19 cases in India LIVE: Delayed disposal of cases amounts to denial of justice to litigants, former Supreme Court judge Sanjay Kishan Kaul said on Friday, while voicing concern over fewer judges than required.

In an interview with PTI, Justice Kaul, who demitted office on December 25, said there should not be any hesitation in experimenting with new ideas to deal with the huge backlog of cases from trial courts to the Supreme Court.

The number of cases pending in various courts in the country has crossed the five crore mark, the government had told the Rajya Sabha on July 20.

“As per data retrieved from the Integrated Case Management System (ICMIS) by the Supreme Court of India, as on July 1, there are 69,766 cases pending in the Supreme Court.

“Total number of cases pending in the high courts and the district and subordinate courts as on July 14 are 60,62,953 and 4,41,35,357 respectively, as per information made available on National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG),” Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal had said in the upper house. (PTI)

As Delhi gears up to ring in the New Year amid fear of the new COVID sub-variant JN.1, experts advised people with comorbidities and the elderly to avoid crowded places and wear masks while asserting there was no need to put in place public health measures right now. According to the Union Health Ministry data, there are 45 active Covid cases in Delhi. So far, the national capital has reported one case of the JN.1 variant.

Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi paid last respects to actor and DMDK chief Vijaykanth at Island ground, Anna Salai in Chennai on Friday. Vijayakanth passed away in Chennai, aged 71, after testing positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.

Manipur reported its first case of the new variant in Friday, news agency ANI reported. The state recorded a fresh case of COVID-19 after a prolonged period without new infections. The infected individual, who hails from Paomata in Senapati district, had travelled from Delhi to Dimapur by air and subsequently from Dimapur to Senapati by road.

Five people tested positive for COVID-19 in Odisha in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of cases in the state reported this month so far to 13, a health department official said on Friday. About 500 samples were tested out of which five were found to be positive since Thursday. All the patients have reported mild symptoms and are in home isolation, state public heath director Niranjan Mishra said. (PTI inputs)

A study has claimed that Covid-19 impairs brain function but no more than that of people hospitalised with illnesses like pneumonia and cardiac arrest with similar severity.

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, found that patients hospitalised due to Covid-19 had worse cognitive, neurological and psychiatric effects than healthy participants after an 18-month follow-up period.

Manipur reported a fresh case of Covid-19 after a prolonged period without new infections. The infected individual, who hails from Paomata in Senapati district, had travelled from Delhi to Dimapur by air and subsequently from Dimapur to Senapati by road.

The exact virus variant remains undetermined, as samples have been sent for genome sequencing to ascertain more details.

Authorities are closely monitoring the – situation to prevent any potential spread of the virus.

According to ANI news agency, India has reported a total of 145 cases of JN.1 variant has been reported till 28th December, these samples were collected between 21 November and 18th December 2023.

India on Friday reported 4,091 active Covid cases and five deaths. According to the data by the Union Health Ministry, Kerala accounts for the maximum number of Covid-19 cases at 2,522 followed by Karnataka at 568, Maharashtra at 369, Tamil Nadu at 156, etc. Read here.

With COVID-19 turning its head again, several states have urged people to follow coronavirus protocols. As of 26 December, the India has reported a total of 109 JN.1 COVID variant cases in the country, Health Ministry sources said. The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified JN.1 as a variant of interest, distinct from its parent lineage BA.2.86. However, the global health body emphasised that the overall risk posed by JN.1 remains low based on current evidence. Read here.

The new Covid-19 strain, JN.1 has become the most dominant strain in teh US. Over 44% of the Covid cases in the US are of the new variant.

India on Friday logged 797 new cases of Covid-19–the highest in 225 days. The number of active cases of the infection surged to 4,091.

Five new fatalities due to Covid– two from Kerala and one each from Maharashtra, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu — have been reported in a span of 24 hours.

On May 19, India recorded 865 Covid cases.

Karnataka’s sub-committee on Covid-19 has decided to impose mandatory seven-day home isolation for infected patients and monitor those in ICUs through Tele ICU. Besides, sewage surveillance will continue in Bengaluru and Mangaluru.

Dr Sanjeev Lalwani, Medical Superintendent of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has said that adequate arrangements have been made in case any kind of emergency arises amid the Covid uptick.

The national capital reported two new cases of coronavirus on Thursday and reports of both the infected patients were sent for genome sequencing to confirm whether they were instances of sub-variant, JN.1.

“As the number of positive cases is increasing, we will scale up the facilities including the number of beds. We have asked all the departments, particularly the clinical departments, that in case someone with Covid-related symptoms is coming to their wards, they will be treated in isolation within the same ward itself”, the AIIMS doctor said.

West Bengal has registered the death of a Covid-positive patient after over nine months, a health official said.

The patient, who had tested positive for the coronavirus, had multiple comorbidities. West Bengal had recorded the last Covid death on March 26.

Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj visited the LNJP Hospital on Thursday. He said that arrangements for conducting RT-PCR tests have been made outside the hospital. The minister added that a separate ward has been set up at LNJP Hospital for Covid patients with approximately 20 beds and all necessary facilities arranged to address issues related to the viral disease.

Ahead of New Year celebrations, Maharashtra health minister Tanaji Sawant on Thursday asked people and institutions in the state to remain alert for the next 10 to 15 days to check the spread of coronavirus.
“Health institutions and people should stay alert for the next 10-15 days to check the spread of coronavirus infection. Those already having some illness must avoid such gatherings,” he added.

Jammu has recorded its first COVID-19 case in a “long time”. The patient has been kept in home isolation and his sample has been sent for genome sequencing to determine if it was caused by the new JN.1 sub-variant.

Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi has reserved beds for patients and made other arrangements including oxygen and testing due to the rise in Covid cases. The hospital administration has reserved 50 beds for isolations, and 9 ICU beds. Apart from this, complete arrangements have also been made in the hospital regarding oxygen, PPE kits, and COVID testing.

A total of 157 cases of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 have been detected in the country, with Kerala reporting the highest number of 78, followed by Gujarat at 34, according to the INSACOG’s data updated on Thursday.

Several states have been reporting an uptick in the number of Covid cases over the last few weeks and nine states and Union territories have so far detected the presence of the JN.1 sub-variant of the virus.

These states are — Kerala (78), Gujarat (34), Goa (18), Karnataka (eight), Maharashtra (seven), Rajasthan (five), Tamil Nadu (four), Telangana (two) and Delhi (one), according to the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG).

The INSACOG’s data showed 141 Covid cases recorded in the country in December had the presence of JN.1, while 16 such cases were detected in November.