Maharashtra reports 95 new cases of COVID

Mumbai (Maharashtra): Ninety-five new cases were recorded in the state on Friday, as per an official update on COVID-19 from the Public Health Department of Maharashtra.

The department also reported that 146 patients were discharged on the same day. The recovery rate in the state was recorded at 98.17 per cent, while the case fatality rate stood at 1.81 per cent.

A total of 11,638 COVID tests were conducted in the state on Friday, which included 2010 first RT-PCR tests and 9628 RAT tests. The positivity rate for the day was 0.81 per cent. As of today, 250 patients have been infected with the JN.1 variant in the state.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 has spread to 16 states, with a total of 971 cases of the infection reported as of January 11, official sources said.

According to sources, Maharashtra has reported a maximum of 250 cases of JN.1 sub-variant of Covid-19, followed by Karnataka with 199 cases of the infection.

Similarly, 155 cases of the infection were reported in Kerala and 94 in Andhra Pradesh. 80 cases have been reported in Gujarat, 49 in Goa, 30 in Rajasthan, and 26 each in Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

25 cases of JN.1 sub-variant have also been reported in Chhattisgarh, 22 in Delhi, 8 in West Bengal, 3 in Odisha, 2 in Haryana, and one each in Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand, they claimed.

These samples were collected between November 10 and January 8, 2024, they said.

1452 samples were sent for Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) in December 2023 while 1026 samples have been sent in January 2024 till date, as per the data.

Sources further said that the majority of the cases were of home-isolation.

JN.1 is a Variant of Interest (VOI) that is under intense scientific scrutiny.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently classified JN.1 as a variant of interest, distinct from its parent lineage BA.2.86. However, the global health body emphasized that the overall risk posed by JN.1 remains low based on current evidence.

Both the central and state governments are keeping a close watch on the new Omicron sub-variant JN.1.

Several countries, including China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore, have reported upticks in new coronavirus cases. The JN.1 strain, first detected in September in the United States, is a descendant of BA.2.86, a highly mutated variant of the Omicron strain of COVID-19. (ANI)