NEW DELHI : A case of COVID-19 sub-variant JN. 1 has been detected in Kerala as part of an ongoing routine surveillance activity of the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), a senior official from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said on Saturday.
The case was detected in an RT-PCR positive sample from Karakulam in Thiruvananthapuram district of the southern state on December 8, Dr Rajiv Bahl, Director General of the ICMR, said.
The sample from a 79-year-old woman had returned a positive result in an RT-PCR test on November 18, they said, adding that she had mild symptoms of influenza-like illness (ILI) and had recovered from COVID-19. Concerns have been raised regarding the impact of the Covid subvariant JN.1, a descendant of BA.2.86.No other case of JN.1 variant has been detected in India, as per PTI sources.
A 79-year-old woman’s sample had tested positive for influenza-like illness (ILI) on November 18, and that she had recovered from COVID-19. According to the reports, over 90 per cent of COVID-19 cases in India right now are mild and are being treated at home. A JN.1 sub-variant traveller from India was previously discovered in Singapore. The individual was a resident of the Tiruchirapalli region of  .. of Tamil Nadu and had arrived in Singapore on October 25. Since then no increase in cases was reported in this region.
Where JN.1 has been discovered in Kerala, surveillance has been conducted by the India SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), a multi-laboratory, multi-agency, pan-Indian network tasked with sequencing and monitoring new dangerous Covid-19 variants.

Meanwhile,  In a statement issued by union health ministry toady said  there has been an increasing trend of COVID-19 cases from the State of Kerala since the last few weeks. This has been attributed to an increase in number of samples from ILI cases being referred for testing. A majority of these cases are clinically mild and recovering on their own at their homes without any treatment .
As part of a regular exercise of Union Health Ministry, a mock drill in all health facilities in States is currently underway to assess their public health and hospital preparedness measures. This activity, which started from 13th December, is being carried out under the overall supervision of the district collectors and is likely to be completed by 18th December 2023.
“There has been an increasing trend of COVID-19 cases from the state of Kerala since the last few weeks. This has been attributed to an increase in the number of samples from ILI cases being referred for testing,” Bahl said. A majority of these cases are clinically mild and the patients are recovering on their own at their homes, without any treatment, he added.
As part of a regular exercise of the Union health ministry, a mock drill at all health facilities in the states is underway to assess their public health and hospital-preparedness measures.
This activity, which started on December 13, is being carried out under the overall supervision of the district collectors and is likely to be completed by December 18, Bahl said. The Union ministry is in regular touch with the Kerala health department and monitoring various entry points to the state. The INSACOG is a network of genomic laboratories that has been monitoring COVID-19 in India from a genomic perspective. The ICMR is a part of the consortium.
According to the revised surveillance guidelines in the context of COVID-19, patients of ILI and SARI are tested for the viral disease and the positive cases are referred for whole genome sequencing (WGS).
(With Inputs from Kochi Bureau).

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