Covid-19 in India: Most cases are mild, Health Ministry monitoring situation closely

As panic sets in as several states in India see a spike in Covid-19 cases, official sources have said that most of the infections were mild in nature. They have also said that the Covid-19 patients are under home care. They said the Union Health Ministry remains vigilant and is proactively monitoring the situation closely.

As cases continue to rise, the Union Health Secretary reviewed the situation on Saturday, May 24, with the Secretary, Department of Health Research (DHR) and Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), DGHS and National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) etc, the sources were quoted as saying by PTI.

While Southeast Asia has seen an uptick in the Covid-19 cases, in India, infections have been reported from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi. Most cases have been found in Kerala. On Friday, May 23, at least 23 persons tested positive for the coronavirus. Also Read | Covid-19: 84-year man dies in Bengaluru amid spike in cases

“It is observed that most of these cases are mild and under home care,” an official source said, adding, “It may also be mentioned that there have been some media reports regarding increase in Covid-19 cases in Singapore, Hong Kong and other countries in the recent past. It has been ascertained from the respective National IHR focal points that there is no indication that the circulating variants are more transmissible or cause more severe disease compared to the previously circulating variants.”

Meanwhile, according to the INSACOG data, one case of the newly emerging Covid-19 variant NB.1.8.1 and four cases of LF.7 have been detected in India. In India, the most common variant remains JN.1, comprising 53 per cent of samples tested, followed by BA.2 (26%) and other Omicron sublineages (20%), according to INSACOG.

JN.1, a Covid-19 variant and Omicron lineage’s BA.2.86 subvariant, is mostly credited with the rise in Covid cases. The World Health Organization (WHO) has categorised it as a “variant of interest” but not a “concern”.

Doctors in the national capital have urged the public not to panic over Covid-19 cases linked to the JN.1 variant which is circulating in India. According to PTI, doctors have said that the strain is “not severe” and most patients are experiencing only mild symptoms.