​The Union government has directed states to send samples of all positive Covid-19 test swabs for whole genome sequencing, people aware of the matter said on Friday, attributing the step to attempts to step up vigil for any concerning variant of the Sars-CoV-2.

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The directive comes in a week when the outbreak of JN.1 variant in some states triggered concern that it could spark wider outbreaks, but officials have not yet seen any increase in reports of severe disease or in the rate of hospital admissions.

“It is a part of overall Covid surveillance that is being strengthened across the country. All RT-PCR positive samples need to be sent to INSACOG laboratories for whole genome sequencing to know the types of variants in circulation. States have been asked to step-up Covid testing, which is crucial to cut spread of the disease. There is no need to panic, the measures are merely precautionary,” said a senior central government official, requesting anonymity.

While RT-PCR tests determine whether the virus is present, whole genome sequencing identifies the set of mutations (and therefore the variant) in the coronavirus sample.

States are also coming up with individual surveillance guidelines as a precautionary measure.

Some countries are seeing a surge in cases around the start of holiday season— largely owing to the JN.1, which appears to spread more readily than XBB-family variants that were prevalent prior to it. Late on Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) separately classified JN.1 as a Sars-CoV-2 variant of interest, after noticing a rapid spread around the world.

The affected states that have shown a slight increase in cases in India include Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Goa, Puducherry, Gujarat, Telangana, Punjab, and Delhi.

“The trend seen so far does not point to increase in either hospitalisations or death. Most of those infected have mild symptoms,” said the official.

According to the government data, nearly 93% of those infected have mild symptoms and are isolating at home. Among those who are undergoing treatment at various hospitals across the country, only 0.1% is on ventilator support, 1.2% is admitted into the intensive care unit (ICU), and 0.6% is on oxygen support.

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According to WHO, at this time, there is no evidence that JN.1 presents an increased risk to public health relative to other currently circulating variants. The UN health body also said that the evidence at hand suggests current vaccines are capable of preventing against severe disease and death.