JN.1 becomes the dominant Covid variant in India with 60% cases

The JN.1 subvariant has become the dominant Covid-19 variant in India, accounting for more than 60% of the coronavirus cases in the country, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

"XBB, which was the dominant variant for a long period in the country, has been surpassed by JN.1, which has crossed the 500 mark," said one of the persons, who did not wish to be identified.

As of Thursday, 511 cases of the subvariant JN.1 have been reported across the country. India recorded 760 new Covid-19 cases and two deaths, while the active caseload saw a slight dip to 4,423 from 4,440 on the previous day.


Amid a slight increase in Covid-19 infections, Insacog, the pan-India network of laboratories set up to monitor genomic variations of the coronavirus, decided to hold a meeting on Friday.

"JN.1 is gradually spreading out. We are seeing that it is now replacing the XBB subvariant of Omicron. It has increased within eight to 10 weeks. We will review the proportion of JN.1 and other subvariants tomorrow in the meeting," an INSACOG member said on condition of anonymity on Thursday.

While hospitalisation has not increased due to the coronavirus, parts of India are seeing the spread of seasonal flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and Covid-19, he said.

Winter brings with it a surge in cases of seasonal viral infections of the upper respiratory tract, said Dr Vaishali Solao, head-critical care at Fortis Hospital, Mulund.