Eight Covid patients from Bengal have been found to have been infected with JN.1, the coronavirus variant that is believed to be driving the latest spike in cases in India and elsewhere, a senior health department official said on Friday.
The samples of the eight patients were collected over a period of around two weeks — from mid-December to January 2.
The reports of the genome sequencing test conducted on the samples arrived on Thursday, said Narayan Swaroop Nigam, secretary in the Bengal health department. The samples were sent to the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics in Kalyani.
“We have received reports that eight samples have been positive for the JN.1 variant. We spoke with each of the eight persons or their families. They were all at home and were doing well,” said Nigam. There is no reason for worry.”
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had said on Thursday that there was nothing to feel scared about the recent spike in Covid cases and urged people, especially those with comorbidities and compromised immunity, to exercise caution.
Referring to the death of a person, who had comorbidities, Mamata had said: “The deaths are few and far between but the disease is contagious.”
“Those with co-morbidities or who are immuno-compromised should wear a mask,” Mamata said.
“It is worth remembering the way we fought the pandemic on a war footing. We have to ensure that adequate precaution is taken. The health department has to ensure there is no further spread (of the virus).”
The website of the Union health ministry showed that 44 new active Covid cases were reported from Bengal in the previous 24 hours. The numbers were updated at 8am on Friday.
A health department official said he was unaware of the exact number of new cases but added that several people were testing positive for Covid. The official said it was not unusual to have a spike in Covid infections since influenza and influenza-like viruses spread rapidly during this time of the year. “The Covid virus spreads in the same manner as the influenza viruses,” he said.
Doctors said that going by the available evidence, there is nothing much to worry about JN.1.
“The variant is not virulent. The sub-type is not causing severe disease, at least in the cases I know. But it is transmissible,” said Chandramouli Bhattacharya, an infectious disease specialist at Peerless Hospital.
The WHO has classified the JN.1 sub-type as “a variant of interest”. It says that “considering the available, yet limited, evidence, the additional public health risk posed by JN.1 is currently evaluated as low at the global level”.