Hitherto restricted to a few regions, reports of Covid cases have now started trickling from various pockets covering Ladakh to Northeastern States  in the country amid rise in its mutant strain JN.1 virus which crossed 250 mark to touch 263.

The rise in cases comes amid WHO advice calling for adequate precautions given that JN.1 strain spreads fast even as it said that it’s not much lethal. On Tuesday, the country reported over 573 covid cases.

A total of 263 cases of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 have been detected in the country so far, with about half of them recorded in Kerala, according to the INSACOG’s data updated on Tuesday.

 Ten states and Union territories have so far detected the presence of the JN.1 sub-variant of the virus.

 These states are Kerala (133), Goa (51), Gujarat (34), Delhi (16), Karnataka (eight), Maharashtra (nine), Rajasthan (five), Tamil Nadu (four), Telangana (two) and Odisha (one), according to the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG). The Centre has asked the States and Union territories to maintain a constant vigil amid an uptick in the number of Covid cases and the detection of the JN.1 sub-variant in the country.

India has recorded 573 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases stood at 4,565, according to the data released by the Health ministry on Tuesday. COVID-19 cases have been steadily rising in India since the last month when the number of cases spiked especially in Kerala.

Two new Covid-19 cases were reported in Gurugram on Monday, according to the district health department.  In Himachal, the State Health Department has  directed the district officers to examine cases of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI).

The State has witnessed only two Covid-19 cases during the last 10 days while Uttarakhand reported two Covid-19 cases. Samples of both infected patients have been sent for genome sequencing to identify the presence of new Omicron sub-variant JN.1. 

In Ladakh, eleven people were tested positive for Covid-19 infections.  Director Health, Ladakh, Dr Mutup Dorje said that all the positive patients have been home isolated and proper guidelines related to Covid protocol have been issued to follow Covid protocol by wearing masks and maintaining distance in public places. On June 1, a person was tested COVID positive in Jammu as well.