819 cases of Covid sub-variant JN.1 reported from 12 states; Maharashtra accounts for 250

A total of 819 cases of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 were reported from 12 states till Monday, official sources said. They said 250 cases were reported from Maharashtra, 199 from Karnataka, 148 from Kerala, 49 from Goa, 36 from Gujarat, 30 each from Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, 26 each from Tamil Nadu and Telangana, 21 from Delhi, three from Odisha and one from Haryana.

Even though the number of JN.1 cases is rising, there is no cause of immediate concern as the majority of those infected are opting for home-based treatment, indicating a mild illness, officials said.

Nineteen persons of these cases are from Mumbai, an official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Tuesday. Out of 22 samples found positive for JN.1 subvariant in Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) analysis, 19 were from Mumbai, Daksha Shah, executive health officer of the BMC told PTI.


According to a release issued by the civic body, these samples were sent for testing last month, and the reports arrived on Monday.

All 19 patients who tested positive for JN.1 in the city suffered mild symptoms, and two of them had comorbidities. The patients have recovered from the infection, it stated.

Most of the samples were tested at private laboratories, the release said.



The states have also been asked to monitor and regularly report district-wise cases of Influenza-like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) from all health facilities for an early detection of a rising trend of cases.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified JN.1 as a separate "variant of interest" given its rapidly-increasing spread, but said it poses a "low" global public health risk.

The JN.1 sub-variant of the coronavirus was previously classified as a variant of interest (VOI) as part of the BA.2.86 sub-lineages, the parent lineage that is classified as a VOI, the world body said