New Delhi: JN.1 has numerous changes that have never been seen in previous variants, according to experts on Tuesday.
First detected in Luxembourg in August, JN.1 is currently present in about 41 countries, including India. Due to its rapid spread, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified JN.1 as a separate variant of interest (VOI), from the parent lineage BA.2.86. It was previously classified as VOI as part of BA.2.86 sublineages.
Till date, India reportedly has 69 cases of JN.1 variant — from Goa, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana. JN.1 variant is a descendent lineage of Omicron sub-variant BA.2.86, with the earliest sample collected on August 25, 2023. In comparison with BA.2.86, JN.1 has the additional L455S mutation in the spike protein — which has immune-evasion properties.
“JN.1 is an all new variant with numerous changes that had never been seen in any commonly circulating lineage before. This is unlike other recent variants, which were merely a few mutations from their predecessor,” Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman of the National Indian Medical Association Covid Task Force, said.
Meanwhile, India recorded 529 fresh COVID-19 cases in a single day, while the country’s active infection count stood at 4,093, the health ministry said on Wednesday.Three new fatalities — two from Karnataka and one from Gujarat — were reported in a span of 24 hours, according to the ministry’s data updated at 8 am.
The number of daily cases had dropped to double-digits till December 5, but infections have again gone up after emergence of a new variant and cold weather conditions.
The daily numbers were in lakhs at the peak of the pandemic, which began in early 2020 and has seen more than 4.5 crore people getting infected and over 5.3 lakh deaths in about four years since then across the country.