The tally of active cases in the country breached the 4000-mark on Monday, while Maharashtra’s Thane reported five cases if JN.1 strain of the coronavirus. On Monday, the country reported as many as 4,054 active cases in the country in the last 24 hours according to the data published by Union health ministry, as compared to 3,742 active cases on Sunday.
Among the five people tested positive for the JN.1 strain, one is woman and none of them are hospitalised, reported PTI.
“A total of 20 samples were sent for COVID-19 testing since November 30 this year and five of them returned positive for the JN.1 variant,” said a civic official.
Meanwhile, Thane Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar and his Navi Mumbai counterpart Rajesh Narvekar held meetings with senior officials and reviewed preparedness.
Amid surging cases of Covid-19 in the country, Union Minister for State and Tourism Shripad Naik on Sunday said that the citizens and tourism industry need not worry about the latest wave as the country has fought the disease in the past.
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On being asked if the country will witness another lockdown, the minister said, “There is no need to panic. We can fight it even if it occurs again. We have fought it in the past.”
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has urged countries in South-East Asia to strengthen surveillance in view of the increasing cases of respiratory diseases, including due to COVID-19 and its new sub-variant JN.1, and influenza, reported PTI.
“The COVID-19 virus continues to evolve, change, and circulate in all countries globally. While current evidence suggests the additional public health risk posed by JN.1 is low, we must continue to track the evolution of these viruses to tailor our response.
“For this, countries must strengthen surveillance and sequencing, and ensure sharing of data,” said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, regional director, WHO South-East Asia.
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