The central government had earlier issued an advisory to the state governments urging them to make adequate health arrangements….reports Asian Lite News
Amid the recent uptick in Covid cases ahead of the festive season and detection of JN.1 subvariant in Kerala, doctors in Delhi have advised people to wear masks, avoid gatherings and maintain a healthy diet.
With Christmas and the New Year approaching, doctors at some hospitals in the city also referred to the detection of the first case of the new JN.1 variant of the coronavirus in the country and asked people to exercise extra caution.
Earlier, the central government has issued an advisory to the state governments urging them to make adequate health arrangements.
“Considering the upcoming festive season, there is a need to put in place requisite public health measures and other arrangements to minimize the risk of increase in transmission of the disease by adherence to the maintenance of respiratory hygiene”, read the advisory.
The centre further directed the states to monitor the occurrence of respiratory diseases district-wise.
“Ensure monitoring and reporting of district-wise influenza-like illness and severe acute respiratory illness cases in all health facilities on a regular basis including in the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) portal, for detecting the early rising trend of cases”, it said.
The central government further directed the state administration to ensure Covid testing as per the set guidelines.
“Ensure a higher number of RT-PCR tests and send the positive samples for genome sequencing to the Indian SARS COV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) laboratories so as to enable timely detection of new variants, if any,” the advisory read further.
“Promote community awareness to seek their continued support in managing COVID-19, including adherence to respiratory hygiene”, it added.
India’s COVID-19 situation remains under control, with an active caseload of 1,828 as of Monday. However, one death was reported in Kerala, where the JN.1 subvariant of the coronavirus was recently detected.
The Union Ministry of Health is in regular touch with the State Department of Health, Kerala and monitors various points of entry.
Earlier on Saturday, ANI reported first about the Covid-19 subvariant JN.1 detected in Kerala, which is a descendant of BA.2.86.The India SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), a network of genomic laboratories, has been actively monitoring the genomic aspects of COVID-19 in India.JN.1 was first detected in September 2023 in the United States.
Meanwhile, in the wake of the surge in respiratory diseases and the new JN.1 COVID sub-variant, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that the virus is evolving and changing and urged the member states to continue with strong surveillance and sequence sharing.
The global body also shared a video of its COVID-19 technical lead, Maria Van Kerkhove, who explained the reason for the recent surges and what precautions can be taken. (with inputs from agencies)
Kerala Has 88.78% Active Covid Cases in India
The number of active Covid cases in Kerala continues to remain at the top with 115 fresh cases getting reported in the past 24 hours, taking the number of active cases in the southern state to 1,749.
According to Centre’s data, India reported 142 fresh cases on Monday, out of which 115 were reported from Kerala.
State Health Minister Veena George is closely monitoring the situation with the health authorities, who are of the opinion that the active caseload is high in Kerala because of increased testing of patients coming to the hospitals with fever and flu.
At a meeting on Tuesday, George pointed out that no harsh restrictions will be put in place, adding that there is no reason to panic as the situation is under control.
Various types of fever, including dengue, leptospirosis and viral fever, have also been reported from across the state.
Masks have been recommended for all those visiting the hospitals and with Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi recording higher number of cases, extra caution has been advised at these two places.
Authorities have been asked to ensure that all the facilities at the hospitals are kept ready.
Meanwhile, a meeting has been convened by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday, where all his state counterparts are expected to be present.
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