Even as India’s active caseload touched 1,970 with one death in Kerala, where the COVID sub-variant JN.1 was detected, Director of Health Services Bijay Kumar Mohapatra said that Odisha never stopped surveillance and testing of symptomatic cases.
“JN.1 variant has not been detected in Odisha, so far. The government is keeping a watch on the situation and necessary guidelines will be issued if required. In the case of detection of such case, genome sequencing will be carried out,” the official said while appealing to people to go for Covid test in view of any symptom.
He further said that surveillance of symptomatic cases will continue in the state as advised by the central government. “We have sufficient beds and logistics for treatment of patients. Adequate testing kits are also available in the state,” said Mohapatra.
He further said symptoms are the same when compared to other known coronavirus variants but no available data is available on the severity of the disease. “There is need to panic, all we need to do is practice caution. We have seen worse situations and are prepared to comply with any inputs from the Centre,” the Health Director added.
115 Fresh Covid-19 Cases in Kerala
Kerala on Tuesday reported 115 fresh Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours taking the total active cases of the virus in the state to 1,749, the Health Department said.
Talking about the situation, Kerala Health Minister Veena George, in a statement, said that there is nothing to be worried about as the state is well prepared to handle the virus infection. Giving details of the steps being taken by the government, the minister said that instructions were issued for testing of those showing symptoms and to send their samples for genomic sequencing.
Notably, the first case of JN.1 was identified in a positive RT-PCR sample in Karakulam of Thiruvananthapuram district in Kerala, on December 8, 2023.
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