"Consulting higher authorities to clarify kind of variant": Warangal Hospital on woman suspected to be infected with JN.1

Warangal (Telangana) [India], December 24 : A 62-year-old woman was isolated at Mahama Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Telangana after incidentally developing COVID-19 symptoms, JN.1 variant to be confirmed after genome sequencing, said Superintendent, MGM Hospital V Chandrashekar on Saturday.
"The news going around is that cases of Covid-19 new variant JN.1 are admitted in MGM Hospital, Warangal so I want to clarify certain things because one 62-year-old woman got admitted to MGM Hospital. Incidentally, a private lab has declared her COVID-19 positive, we have isolated that patient and that is the first suspected case that came to the MGM hospital. We have taken a CT scan, so incidentally she has developed a COVID-19 positive and we are not sure that this COVID-19 positive is of the current variant JN.1 because it needs to be confirmed by genome sequencing," V Chandrashekar said.
He further said that the hospital has preserved the sample and is consulting higher authorities to clarify the kind of variant.
"Some of the samples from Hyderabad are tested by Genome sequencing and the results are yet to come. Standard protocols are there for the treatment of COVID-19 cases," he added.
Meanwhile, after a surge in the cases of the new COVID subvariant JN.1, doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) have advised people to not panic but rather remain alert and vigilant.
"People are getting infected by the new sub-variant of COVID-JN.1 in many states of the country. The symptoms of the patients are mild. Therefore, there is no need to panic but the need to remain alert," Doctor Neeraj Nischal said.
A multifold spurt in fresh COVID cases was noted in India over the past 24 hours, with Kerala contributing the major chunk of those.
The total number of active cases of Covid-19 in the country was recorded at 3,420.
Meanwhile, amid rising concerns over the emergence of the new variant of the coronavirus, former World Health Organisation (WHO) chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan asserted that there is no need to panic currently as it is a variant of interest and not of concern. However, she urged people to be cautious by taking proper precautionary measures.
Speaking to ANI exclusively, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, former DG, of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said, "We need to be cautious, but we don't need to worry because we don't have any data to suggest that this variant JN.1 is more severe or it's going to cause more pneumonia, more death."
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently classified JN.1 as a variant of interest, distinct from its parent lineage BA.2.86. However, the global health body emphasised that the overall risk posed by JN.1 remains low based on current evidence.