After the identification of the JN.1 variant in India, the Central government issued an advisory to states on Monday, urging them to “maintain continuous vigilance”. The first case of JN.1 was identified in a positive RT-PCR sample in Karakulam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, on December 8, 2023.

Amid the surge of COVID-19 cases, the World Health Organization on Sunday said that the virus was changing and evolving. It also urged the member states to continue strong surveillance and sequence sharing. WHO said on X, formerly Twitter, “Dr @mvankerkhove talks about the current surge in respiratory diseases #COVID19 and JN.1 subvariant. WHO continues to assess the situation. Follow WHO’s public health advice to keep your families and friends safe during this holiday season.”

With the active cases of JN.1 in India being 1,828 as of Monday, the worry around the new variant has increased.

How dangerous is the JN.1 variant?

Indian SARS-COV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), which is a network of laboratories that tracks genomic variants of the COVID-19 virus, Chief Dr NK Arora said, “No cause for panic (over JN.1 subvariant). The number of samples is less but these are being collected from all the states. INSACOG is closely monitoring the situation, studying the epidemiology and clinical behaviour of the virus.”

Arora told news agency ANI, “This variant has been isolated and reported in November; this is a subvariant of BA.2.86. We have some cases of JN.1. India is keeping a vigil and that’s the reason no hospitalisation or severe disease has been reported so far.”

JN.1 was initially identified in the United States in September 2023.

Speaking on the first case of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 being detected in Kerala, Health Minister Veena George said that it was not a cause for concern. She said, “There is no need for any concern. It’s a sub-variant. It was just found here. Months ago, this variant was detected in a few Indians who were screened at the Singapore Airport. It’s just that Kerala has identified the variant here through genome sequencing. There is no need to worry. The situation is being closely monitored.”

Dr Ujjwal Prakash Delhi’s Ganga Ram Hospital said that vigilance was crucial regarding the new variant but there was no need for panic. “You need to be more vigilant. I don’t think that there’s a reason to panic or do anything extra than just being vigilant.”

He told news agency ANI that JN.1 was a mild variant which caused upper respiratory symptoms. The symptoms comprise fever, sore throat, runny nose, headaches, and, in certain instances, mild gastrointestinal symptoms. He added that the symptoms were improving within four to five days.

Prakash said, “The first way going forward is testing this new variant of Covid if possible, and then we have to see whether they have Covid or any other viral infection. Symptoms are almost very common with other viral infections. They may be slightly more severe. Some patients may have some symptoms more severe than others, but more or less the infection is just like any other viral infection. I don’t think I would be wise enough to say that the new wave of Covid is coming. It may just pass away like any other viral infection. Let’s keep a watch and keep our fingers crossed.”

National Indian Medical Association Covid Task Force’s co-chairman Rajeev Jayadevan said that the new variant was capable of spreading at a faster pace along with evading immunity.

He said, “JN.1 is a severely immune-evasive and fast-spreading variant, markedly different from XBB and all other prior versions of this virus. This enables it to infect people who had previous Covid infections and also people who were vaccinated.”