oppn parties Covid: JN.1 Is Here And Spreading Fast, But No Need To Panic

News Snippets

  • The Indian envoy in Bangladesh was summoned by the country's government over the breach in the Bangladesh mission in Agartala
  • Bank account to soon have 4 nominees each
  • TMC and SP stayed away from the INDIA bloc protest over the Adani issue in the Lok Sabha
  • Delhi HC stops the police from arresting Nadeem Khan over a viral video which the police claimed promoted 'enmity'. Court says 'India's harmony not so fragile'
  • Trafiksol asked to refund IPO money by Sebi on account of alleged fraud
  • Re goes down to 84.76 against the USD but ends flat after RBI intervenes
  • Sin goods like tobacco, cigarettes and soft drinks likely to face 35% GST in the post-compensation cess era
  • Bank credit growth slows to 11% (20.6% last year) with retail oans also showing a slowdown
  • Stock markets continue their winning streak on Tuesday: Sensex jumps 597 points to 80845 and Nifty gains 181 points to 24457
  • Asian junior hockey: Defending champions India enter the finals by beating Malaysia 3-1, to play Pakistan for the title
  • Chess World title match: Ding Liren salvages a sraw in the 7th game which he almost lost
  • Experts speculate whether Ding Liren wants the world title match against D Gukesh to go into tie-break after he let off Gukesh easily in the 5th game
  • Tata Memorial Hospital and AIIMS have severely criticized former cricketer and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu for claiming that his wife fought back cancer with home remedies like haldi, garlic and neem. The hospitals warned the public for not going for such unproven remedies and not delaying treatment as it could prove fatal
  • 3 persons died and scores of policemen wer injured when a survey of a mosque in Sambhal near Bareilly in UP turned violent
  • Bangladesh to review power pacts with Indian companies, including those of the Adani group
Devendra Fadnavis to be the next chief minister of Maharashtra after Eknath Shinde agrees to join the government as deputy CM
oppn parties
Covid: JN.1 Is Here And Spreading Fast, But No Need To Panic

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2023-12-22 08:57:37

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

Although the World Health Organization (WHO) withdrew the public health emergency notification for Covid nearly 7 months ago, the virus refuses to go away. In a new outbreak in India, the JN.1 sub-variant of Omicron is rearing its head. It began in Kerala (which is still the worst affected) and has now spread to distant states like West Bengal. India reported 640 new cases on Thursday, with Kerala alone reporting 500+ new cases on the day. It had reported 500+ cases on Wednesday too. The JN.1 variant is said to be a mild infection but a few deaths have also been reported, with three deaths on Wednesday and one on Thursday. The Union health ministry and medical experts have said that there is no need to panic but have advised people to start following Covid protocols like wearing masks in public places and washing hands frequently to avoid getting infected.

JN.1 sub-variant has mild to moderate symptoms such as fever, runny nose, sore throat, headaches, loss of appetite, and extreme fatigue. It may also lead to gastrointestinal problems. By all accounts, it is spreading fast. WHO is tracking its global spread and is expected to issue appropriate notification if things get out of hand. Right now, it has termed it only as a 'variant of interest' due to its high transmission rate. Within a period of one month, from November 5 to December 4, the sub-variant grew from just 3.3% of all Covid cases to nearly 27%. The CDC in the US termed it as the fastest growing variant in the country.

Despite the fact that JN.1 is known to evade immunity to infect people, medical experts are not unduly worried because the strain does not cause (or has not caused till now) serious illness. Experts say that widespread vaccination has helped people combat the new variant. They also advise vaccinating the vulnerable group of seniors, people with malignant diseases, people on immunosuppressive medications, uncontrolled diabetes and patients with chronic liver and kidney disease. Some experts have also advised boosters for those already vaccinated with two doses. Hence, people need not panic but exercise caution, take booster doses, wear masks, wash their hands frequently and if possible, avoid going to crowded public places.