first instance of a novel Covid variant in the city

The first case of the Covid-19 subvariant JN.1, according to reports from Delhi, was announced here on Wednesday by Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj.

The Omicron sub-variant has been primarily responsible for the rise in the country’s western and southern regions. The minister further said that two of the three samples submitted for genome sequencing are Omicron and one is JN.1.

According to Union Health Ministry officials, the number of JN.1 cases has increased from Tuesday’s 69 infections to 109 cases. Six from Kerala, four from Rajasthan, four from Tamil Nadu, two from Telangana, 34 from Karnataka, 14 from Goa, 9 from Maharashtra, and 36 from Gujarat were among the 109 JN.1 infections that were recorded.

A specialized screening OPD will be established inside AIIMS-Delhi’s emergency department, the hospital has stated in response to a surge in COVID-19 patients.

This facility’s main goal is to detect patients who exhibit COVID-19-like symptoms and effectively triage them according to their level of medical need.

In addition, 12 beds in a dedicated ward will be used by the hospital to treat patients who have been seriously impacted by the virus. This choice was taken at a meeting presided over by AIIMS director M Srinivas, during which backup plans for managing critically sick Covid patients were reviewed. These proposals’ specifics were laid out in an office document that was made public on Wednesday.