A 41-year-old man has tested positive for new COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra, said health department officials on Wednesday evening.

As per preliminary information, the patient is from Dodamarg taluka in the coastal district in the Konkan region and has mild symptoms of the infectious disease, they said.

No further details were available about the patient.

The World Health Organisation 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.

As many as 21 cases of the sub-variant have been detected across the country till now, NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr V K Paul said on Wednesday in New Delhi.

The Maharashtra health department has said JN.1 is a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 and causes mild symptoms in patients as it urged people not to panic but take necessary precautions.

Meanwhile, the health department officials said regular genome sequencing is taking place in the state.

Genome sequencing is a laboratory test that can map out the whole genetic makeup of a virus from a patient's swab sample.

Authorities in all districts have been instructed to take utmost precautions in the wake of detection of the new sub-variant and undertake surveillance of influenza like illnesses (ILI) such as severe adverse respiratory infection (SARI).

"They have been told to conduct coronavirus tests on patients suffering from SARI and ILI. All districts have been told to ramp up coronavirus testing," said an official.

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