JN.1 In Bihar: The Health Department Requires Tests For These Individuals And Issues New COVID Guidelines To IGIMS, AIIMS Patna

Following the discovery of three new instances of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 in the state, the Bihar health department has been put on notice. It has mandated that all hospitals do COVID-19 testing on patients who present with fever, cough, and respiratory illnesses such as SARI (severe acute respiratory infection) and ILI (influenza-like illness).

New COVID-19 instructions have been communicated to all medical schools, hospital superintendents, and civil surgeons at RMRI, Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, and AIIMS Patna by the Additional Chief Secretary of the Health Department. Every district received instructions to enhance the quantity of Covid tests—particularly RT-PCR tests—in their areas. It has been mandated that civil surgeons periodically examine the COVID tests performed in government and commercial laboratories and submit them to the Covid Bihar site.

The department was also directed to examine the availability of medications, physicians, oxygen equipment, and reagents, as well as the general, oxygen, and ICU bed functions in hospitals. Hospitals were instructed to make sure masks were used and sanitizers were available.

Up until Sunday, 63 instances of the Covid-19 subvariant JN.1 have been identified. According to news outlet ANI, which cited officials from the Health Ministry, Goa had the highest number of cases. 34 instances from Goa, 9 from Maharashtra, 8 from Karnataka, 6 from Kerala, 4 from Tamil Nadu, and 2 from Telangana were recorded out of 63 total cases.

“We don’t have any data to suggest that this variant JN.1 is more severe or that it’s going to cause more pneumonia, more deaths,” Dr. Swaminathan, a former director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), told news agency ANI. “We need to be cautious, but we don’t need to worry.”