HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, Dec 30: A woman who recently travelled from Delhi to Dimapur via flight and subsequently took a car to Manipur was tested positive for Covid, The Morung Express quoted.
According to an official of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (ISDP), department of health & family welfare, Nagaland, the woman, whose identity has not been disclosed, took a flight (Indigo) on December 16 from Delhi and reportedly halted for a night in Dimapur during her journey before taking a private car to Senapati in Manipur the next day.
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After showing symptoms of Covid a few days later, the woman underwent test only to be tested positive on December 27, the ISDP official informed. The exact virus variant remains undetermined, as samples have been sent for genome sequencing. The samples have been sent to National Institute of Virology in Pune to verify whether the case is of JN.1 variant, it is learnt. The woman has been put under surveillance and is reported to be fine.
The official, meanwhile, revealed that Covid testing facilities has been reactivated across the state. The state health department is also expected to brief the press on this matter soon.
On whether the health department was working to tracing her contacts who may have been potentially exposed to infection, chief medical officer Dimapur Dr Limatula Aier informed that since the department received information only on Friday, contact tracing will be initiated once they get the details of the co-passengers.
The CMO also appealed the people not to be alarmed by the news but at the same time follow precautionary measures laid out by the health department.
The surge in Covid-19 cases has become a new concern in the country with the emergence of sub-variant JN.1 and various states reporting fresh cases.
According to data shared by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India in the last 24 hours recorded 797 fresh cases of Covid-19. The active caseload increased by four, reaching 4,097.
According to health ministry data, a total of 157 cases of JN.1 variant have been reported till December 28. The highest number of JN.1 variant cases has been reported from Kerala. The state reported 78 cases of the JN.1 sub variant, the majority of which were home isolated. This was followed by Gujarat at 34, according to IN-SACOG’s data. Ahead of the New Year, both the central and state governments are keeping a close watch on the new Omicron sub-variant JN.1.
The official data stated that six deaths were reported in the last 24 hours – two in Maharashtra and one each in Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala and West Bengal.Since, the outbreak of corona virus in January 2020, the total count has reached 4, 50, and 10,944. The total death toll in India has risen to 5, 33,946.
The number of daily cases had dropped to double-digits till December 5, 2023 but cases have again gone up after emergence of a new variant and the cold weather conditions.The daily numbers were in lakhs at the peak of the pandemic, which began in early 2020 and has seen more than 4.5 crore people getting infected and over 5.3 lakh deaths in about four years since then across the country.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease stands at over 4.4 crore with a national recovery rate of 98.81 per cent, according to the ministry’s website.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently classified JN1 as a variant of interest, distinct from its parent lineage BA286.
However, the global health body emphasised that the overall risk posed by JN.1 remains low based on current evidence.
JN1 has been found in many countries, including India, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Previously JN 1 was classified and tracked as part of its parent BA286 lineage, which itself is a descendant of the Omicron or B11529 variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing Covid-19 disease. In comparison with its parent lineage BA286, JN1 has an additional mutation (the L455S mutation) in the spike protein.
WHO said that based on the currently available data, “the additional global public health risk posed by JN1 is currently evaluated as low despite this, with the onset of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, JN1 could increase the burden of respiratory infections in many countries,” it added.
WHO also highlighted that current vaccines continue to protect against severe disease and death from JN.1 and other circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2.
