Following a review meeting, Maharashtra’s COVID task force head Dr Raman Gangakhedkar said in case of any fever or cold developing, they must get tested for COVID infection.

As coronavirus cases rose in Maharashtra, Dr Gangakhedkar spoke of the possibility of infections spreading or surging among people who had travelled outside Mumbai during Christmas and New Year, taking extended holidays during year-end.

“So they must isolate themselves for five days,” he said.

The task force believes the next 15 days are very crucial to prevent COVID infections, and hence advised people experiencing fever, cold and cough to get tested for the coronavirus.

Experts said home isolation should suffice if hospitalisation is not required.

The task force also emphasised importance of screening for influenza-like illnesses (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) patients. People with symptoms should mandatorily undergo COVID testing. If Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) is positive, treatment should be symptomatic.

If symptoms are there and Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) is negative, RTPCR testing should be conducted for such patients, advised the task force.

Maharashtra reported 129 fresh COVID cases on January 5, of which 31 were from Mumbai. Active cases in the state have gone up to 630.

Karnataka has reported 199 cases of the sub-variant followed by Kerala (148), Goa (47), Gujarat (36), Maharashtra (32), Tamil Nadu (26) and Delhi (15). Four cases have been reported from Rajasthan, two from Telangana and one each from Odisha and Haryana.

JN.1 is a sub-variant of Omicron lineage and is highly transmissible. Experts say it spreads faster than the other Omicron variants but does not cause more severe disease. Common symptoms include fever, cough, cold, headache, gastrointestinal disorders, and breathing issues.

Meanwhile, active cases in Odisha have mounted to 27 with 3 new cases being detected in the last 24 hours. While one person has been hospitalised, others are recuperating at home, sources said.

The test positivity rate in the state had shot to 1.7 per cent from 0.1 per cent in December third week on Tuesday when five new cases were detected from 295 samples, taking the tally to 24 with one patient having recovered from the infection. The government, however, attributed this rise to fall in testing from a range of around 600 to less than 300 and added that the districts not adhering to the earlier instruction have asked to step up testing as per protocol.

Since the new variant can affect people with co-morbidities or those who have suffered lung damage in previous waves more, the state has appealed to them and the elderly to remain cautious and wear face masks while going out.

On the other hand, Union Health Ministry data on Wednesday revealed that 602 fresh cases of COVID-19 in India in the last 24 hours. Five deaths due to the infection have also been reported in the country during this period, according to Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), under the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

However, the number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 18 following the recovery of one infected person, sources said on Sunday.

The health condition of all the COVID affected persons is stated to be stable as they are showing mild symptoms. They are all undergoing treatment in home isolation.

On the surge in COVID cases in the state, Public Health Director Niranjan Mishra said the number of COVID tests has increased. All the new infected people have been kept in isolation at their homes.

Stating that the situation is under observation, he said there is no need to panic due to the surge in COVID cases caused by the JN.1 sub-variant of Omicron strain. People need to remain alert, avoid visiting crowded place, and mask up if required.

Especially those showing symptoms of cold, cough and fever should avoid visiting crowded places for new year celebrations, he said, adding that these people should confine themselves to their homes and celebrate zero-night indoors.

The Covid cases are expected to witness a spike and the central government has also advised states to stay prepared. Mishra said the state government has written to hospitals to remain prepared and make necessary arrangements in the hospitals.

Official sources said that one of the patients has now recovered and there are 13 active COVID-19 cases in the state at present.

All the new patients are showing mild symptoms of COVID-19. They are all undergoing treatment under home isolation and their health condition is stated to be stable.

With more people testing positive for COVID-19, the state government has issued an alert to district health authorities and medical colleges.

Public Health Director Niranjan Mishra, in a letter to all CDM & PHOs, medical colleges, RGH, Rourkela and Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar, has stated that recent rise in COVID cases across the country necessitates immediate and proactive measure to combat any surge in positive cases in the state.

Mishra has directed the authorities to remain alert to meet any exigencies and take the necessary actions to increase surveillance and testing. Testing facilities should be made available at all health institutions from CHC and above.

The state government has already issued an advisory urging several categories of people to use facemasks while going out in view of the emergence of JN.1 variant of Covid-19 in several other states.

The Health and Family Welfare department has already stated that elderly people and those with co-morbidities have been advised to use facemask while going out.

The government has also advised elderly people and those with co-morbidities to avoid visiting crowded places as well.

Official sources said that all the 13 new patients are showing mild symptoms of COVID-19. They are all undergoing treatment under home isolation and their health condition is stated to be stable.

The state government has already issued an advisory urging several categories of people to use facemasks while going out in view of the emergence of JN.1 variant of Covid-19 in several other states.

The Health and Family Welfare department has already stated that elderly people and those with co-morbidities have been advised to use facemask while going out.

The government has also advised elderly people and those with co-morbidities to avoid visiting crowded places as well.

With cases of new JN.1 variant of COVID-19 being reported in several other states in the country, concerns are being expressed over a spike in Covid cases. However, experts say that it is time to remain alert even though the cases with the new JN.1 variant is mild.

As of Thursday, the highest number of JN.1 Covid cases in India were reported from Kerala. Kerala, the first state to detect the Omicron subvariant, has a total of 78 cases JN.1 variant now.

Sources said on Tuesday that the health condition of all three patients is stated to be normal and they are undergoing treatment. While the first COVID-19 case in the state was detected on December 3, another person had tested positive on December 19, sources said.

The fresh cases have been detected in the state amid an increase in sub-variant JN.1 cases in different parts of the country.

Meanwhile, 628 new COVID-19 cases were detected in the last 24 hours in other states, taking the total number of patients to above 4000 in the country. One person has reportedly died of Coronavirus in Kerala on Monday.

The Odisha government has already issued an advisory, urging several category of people to use facemasks while going out in view of the emergence of JN.1 variant of Covid-19.

The Health and Family Welfare department has said that elderly people and those with co-morbidities have been advised to use facemask while going out. The information was shared by the department on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle.

In its tweet, the Health department also advised elderly people and those with co-morbidities to avoid visiting crowded places as well.

With the cases of new JN.1 variant of COVID being reported in different parts of the country, concerns are being expressed over a spike in the cases.

Dr Swaminathan also pointed out that India’s health systems have come a long way from how they were during the first wave in 2020 and the deadlier Delta wave in 2021, and the country is well prepared to handle an uptick in cases. Dr Jayadevan said 30% of all patients with influenza-like illnesses who were tested have turned out to be COVID-19 positive in the Kochi region in about 24 hours.

Both experts spoke exclusively to NDTV.

Both experts, however, emphasised that the variant, while more transmissible, may not cause a high number of hospitalisations, partly because of India’s high vaccination rate. Dr Swaminathan also pointed out that India’s health systems have come a long way from how they were during the first wave in 2020 and the deadlier Delta wave in 2021, and the country is well prepared to handle an uptick in cases.

Dr Swaminathan also listed out the precautions that people can take and stressed the need for the elderly and those with poor immunity to start masking up.

According to Dr Jayadevan, while JN.1 is considered the fastest-rising variant, it does not necessarily mean more cases but that it is “dominating the Covid landscape”. He also pointed out that while cases are increasing, people are being able to treat the symptoms at home.

On the JN.1 variant, Dr Swaminathan said it is a sub-variant of Omicron and will hopefully behave like Omicron, which was relatively mild. But every new variant gets some properties of being more transmissible. It is able to evade or avoid the antibody responses that we already have in our system. And therefore it is able to create these waves of infection where it infects people who’ve already been infected before, she added.

Both experts advised people to mask up in closed and crowded places.

On a note of caution, Dr Swaminathan told NDTV 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. 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. This is the big difference between a common cold and Covid. So I would say let’s not take it lightly. If you can avoid the infection, much better to avoid it than to get it and risk the after-effects of long Covid.”