Insacog meets on friday as Covid cases rise
India is monitoring the emergence of a new variant of Covid-19 with the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (Insacog), the network of laboratories set up to monitor genomic variations of the coronavirus, set to meet on Friday to review the situation.
So far, Insacog has not found anything «unusual», a member of the network said, adding «there is nothing to panic».
A case of JN.1 subvariant of Covid-19 was detected in Kerala, the Union health ministry said on Saturday. The case was detected in an RT-PCR positive test sample from Karakulam in Thiruvananthapuram on December 8, it said.
«We have to be alert and keep a strict vigil. The new subvariant came up in the surveillance system and we are keeping a close watch,» a member of Insacog said.
«We will meet on Friday to review the situation and the way forward as India is seeing an uptick in cases.
Some countries like Singapore are also witnessing an upsurge, so we will review the situation and see if there are any recommendations to be given,» he added.
India's Covid active caseload Monday rose to 1,828 while one death was recorded in Kerala. On Sunday, India logged 335 fresh Covid infections and the number of active cases rose to 1,701, the health ministry said.
Meanwhile, Karnataka's minister for health and family welfare Dinesh Gundu Rao on Monday advised senior citizens and those with comorbidities to wear masks.
«There has been no serious impact so far as neither clustering or any unusual pattern is seen. We have to keep a close watch clinically and epidemiologically,» added the member.
According to the health ministry, the patient who tested for JN.1 subvariant had mild symptoms of influenza-like illness (ILI) and has since recovered from Covid-19.
