India records 743 new Covid-19 cases, 7 deaths | India News – The Indian Express

India has seen an uptick in Covid-19 cases over the last three weeks, with 743 new cases recorded on Saturday. At least seven deaths with Covid-19 were also reported, taking the toll this week to 25, according to government data.

While 600 to 700 cases of the infection are still being recorded, the number of active cases the number of people who currently have the infection went down to 3,997 on Saturday from 4,091 recorded the previous day.

The increase in the number of cases also coincides with an increase in the number of JN.1 cases. At least 162 cases of the new variant JN.1 have been detected in India so far, with the highest 83 sequences coming from Kerala, according to Indias genome sequencing consortium INSACOG.

Kerala has been reporting the highest number of cases, accounting for 377 of the 792 new cases reported in the country on Friday. After Kerala, the highest number of JN.1 sequences has been reported by Gujarat (34), Goa (18), Karnataka (8), Maharashtra (7), Rajasthan (5), Tamil Nadu (4), Telangana (2), and Delhi (1).

Though more cases are being reported, doctors say that the risk of severe disease remains low.

JN.1 is a descendant of the Omicron variant. And, Omicron variant is known to cause upper respiratory symptoms such as cough and sore throat in most cases. This is what has been seen from other places that are witnessing a surge due to JN.1 as well, said Dr G C Khilnani, chairman of Delhis PSRI Institute of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine. There could be severe manifestations in the old and those living with several comorbidities, he said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) in its risk evaluation of JN.1 says that it is low as of now.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that JN.1 is likely to account for 39 per cent to 50 per cent of all Sars-CoV-2 variants but it was too soon to say whether it would lead to increased hospitalisation. Its statement said: JN.1s continued growth suggests that the variant is either more transmissible or better at evading our immune systems than other circulating variants. It is too early to know whether or to what extent JN.1 will cause an increase in infections or hospitalizations.

In Singapore, where JN.1 accounts for a majority of the cases, an increase in hospitalisation and ICU admission has been seen over the last three weeks or so.

The Indian Express had previously reported that laboratories from states such as Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam and Meghalaya stopped sending in samples in June and July. The single laboratories in Punjab and Chennai stopped sending samples in April and March, respectively. The laboratory in Bihar stopped sending samples last October.

Not all states have a laboratory and some of the bigger laboratories also process samples from neighbouring states. In fact, the last batch of samples from Delhi was sent for genomic sequencing in July, despite at least one of the labs in the capital being a hub that receives samples from other states.

With several countries across the world reporting an increase in cases of JN.1, the WHO last week designated it as a variant of interest, separate from its ancestor BA.2.86 which is commonly referred to as Pirola. While it has only one additional mutation on the spike protein as compared to its ancestor, there has been an increase in its prevalence as compared to other variants in circulation.

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India records 743 new Covid-19 cases, 7 deaths | India News - The Indian Express