(MENAFN- Live Mint) "New Delhi: The new strain of coronavirus may peak in the next two months as in the case of the previous Omicron wave, a top government scientist said, as the country keeps a wary eye on the spreading infection that has claimed six lives so far is no clear information to state that JN.1 is causing hospitalization and deaths, said Raman Gangakhedkar, senior epidemiologist and a member of the government's covid-19 task force.“JN.1 was first reported in the US in September and did not show any severity. Now, it is in India and the trend looks the same. In India, even if cases are rising right now, it is in absolute numbers. People have been facing flu symptoms and not going for testing because it is mild. JN.1's peak is expected in the coming days, and looks similar to Omicron which settled down within two months. Hence, we need to monitor it. The new virus varies from BA.2.86 by only a single mutation in its spike protein, and has the ability for higher transmission,” Gangakhedkar said. Limited testing is posing challenges for the Indian Sars-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) to determine the extent of spread of the new sub-variant. A scientist at the consortium said intensified covid-19 testing and genome sequencing is required across the country to understand the virulence of the new virus and expected number of hospitalizations.“The government has already held meetings with all state health ministers. Right now, we are vigilant as the strain has already been circulating in other countries. We are right now looking at whether there are increased hospitalizations and deaths. With the present data, there is nothing to worry about; however, we do not have a large number of samples to conduct genome sequencing. Those who have symptoms should be isolated immediately and go for testing,” a senior INSACOG scientist said on condition of anonymity on Friday reported 640 new coronavirus infections, with active cases nearing 3,000. One death was reported from Kerala in the last 24 hours recorded 265 new covid cases in the previous 24 hours.“It is because the state has a higher number of sample tests than other states. The situation is absolutely under control,” state health minister Veena George said Hanish, principal secretary of the state's health department, said that most patients are in home isolation and the hospitalization figure is below 200.“Also, the number of deaths that has been reported is owing to co-morbidities and there is little connection to covid-19. But of course, they were all positive. JN.1 has been found in only one case, and there is dominance of other variant BA.2.86,” he added. Kerala's leading private hospital Amrita said it has noticed a rise in respiratory cases at its outpatient department over the past two weeks.“We are prioritizing high-risk individuals-those with malignancies, on immunosuppressants, uncontrolled diabetes, chronic kidney, and liver diseases-due to their vulnerability to disease worsening. Fortunately, the variant causing these cases doesn't typically lead to severe forms of illness, resulting in minimal ICU care and ventilation needs,” said Kiran G Kulirankal, Assistant professor, Division of infectious diseases, Amrita hospital, Kochi has reported at least 19 cases of the new strain.“On Thursday, we tested 24 cases and there was not a single positive case. The intensity of the strain is low; even WHO had said that it is less infectious. We haven't observed any major threat from the virus yet. The cases are all under home isolation, only one 80-year-old lady had to be admitted in hospital, but she has been discharged,” state health secretary Arun Kumar said sent to a health ministry spokesperson remained ...
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