With JN.1 variant fueling another COVID surge in India, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, former WHO chief scientist, said that the new strain should not be dismissed as a ‘common cold’ and warned saying ‘let’s not take things lightly’ this time. Here are the 5 things she said about the new strain:
‘Covid is not common cold’
1) While speaking to NDTV, Dr Swaminathan said, “It’s very different from the common cold, not just because of people getting severely ill with acute Covid pneumonia, but also because of the long-term effects of Covid.
2) “And I think we have enough data now from around the world to know that people who have suffered from Covid and, particularly those who have repeat infections, are more likely to get, for example, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, dementia, depression, mental health problems, prolonged fatigue and muscle pain… inability to go back to their usual state of functioning,” she told the news channel
3) Dr Swaminathan added, as quoted by NDTV, “So I would say let’s not take it lightly.
Be cautious but don’t panic
She further asserted that we should remain ‘cautious’ but ‘not panic’.
4) “I think what we need to do is try to take the normal preventive measures that we are all now familiar with. We were familiar with Omicron, so it’s the same family. So not much has changed, but 1 or 2 new mutations have come up. And that’s why I think WHO has said let’s keep a watch on it. It’s a variant of interest. It’s not a variant of concern,” she told news agency ANI.
5) She further advised precautions to avoid infection, “Avoid being in a very closed environment with very poor ventilation with toxic people without a mask. So do wear a mask if you’re in that type of very close setting because prolonged exposure to somebody infected increases the risk of infection”
COVID JN.1 variant in India
India has so far confirmed 21 cases of the JN.1 Covid variant, sparking both attention and concern across the nation.
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.
Meanwhile, India on Thursday recorded 594 fresh COVID-19 infections – taking the number of active cases from 2,311 the previous day to 2,669, according to Union health ministry data.
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Published: 22 Dec 2023, 07:52 AM IST