Karnataka ups Covid testing in wake of rising JN.1 variant cases in border states

With the threat of Covid looming yet again, the Karnataka government has directed the district health officials to ensure all the severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) cases and at least one in 20 influenza-like illness (ILI) cases are tested for Covid.

On Monday, the government had made it mandatory for citizens older than 60 years and people with comorbidities to wear masks, following the emergence of the JN.1 Covid subvariant in neighbouring Kerala and Tamil Nadu. “All those with respiratory symptoms like fever, cough, cold, etc. shall seek medical consultation early,” said the advisory.

While the government has not placed any restrictions on travel, it has advised citizens to avoid crowded areas, especially in light of year-end festivities. There are also no restrictions on Ayappa pilgrims returning from Kerala.


As of Monday, the country had logged 260 cases of the variant, with one death in Kerala. Karnataka’s health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Monday said that the state government has increased surveillance in border districts with Kerala. “We have asked our hospitals and health centres to be prepared. There should be more surveillance in border districts like -- Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, Chamarajanagar -- which share a border with Kerala,” he said.

The JN.1 sub-variant, which stems from the Omicron sub-variant, was first detected in Luxembourg. The first Indian case was a 79-year-old woman in Kerala in November. An Indian traveller in Singapore was also diagnosed positive. He was from Tamil Nadu.

The National Indian Medical Association Covid Task Force has said that the variant is “severely immune-evasive” and “fast-spreading.” It can infect people who have been vaccinated as well.