There was a lull after one case was detected in the state on December 3 amid the emergence of JN.1, a new sub-variant of Omicron, which is currently pushing the nationwide tally. The remaining four infections have been reported in the last four days.

According to Health department sources, two cases have been detected from Cuttack, one was found positive in Khurda district between Saturday and Monday. They have mild symptoms and are undergoing treatment in home isolation. The districts concerned have been asked to analyse the travel history of all three patients. “The samples of the three patients have been sent for genome sequencing to ascertain the presence of the JN.1 variant. There is no reason to panic, but those with symptoms should go for COVID tests,” Director of Health Services Dr Bijay Mohapatra told the media.

The state is yet to provide details of the two cases detected in the last 24 hours.

While cases are rising, the number of tests being conducted in Odisha reportedly fell to less than 150 on Monday from around 300/day last week. The government has advised the elderly people and those with co-morbidities to wear face masks while going out and avoid visiting crowded places.

Meanwhile, 412 fresh cases have taken India’s active cases tally to 4,170. Three new fatalities have also been reported from Karnataka. A total of 63 cases of the sub-variant JN.1 were detected in India till Sunday. About 35 cases of the sub-variant have been detected in Karnataka so far.

The Karnataka government’s cabinet sub-committee on coronavirus has suggested measures like wearing masks, not sending children with symptoms to schools, adhering to COVID appropriate behaviour like social distancing, seven days home isolation and leave for infected patients. It has also decided to administer “precautionary vaccine” for the aged and those with comorbidities.

According to Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, Co-chairman of the National IMA Covid task force, XBB.1.5 is an upgraded version of XBB, a recombinant sub-lineage of Omicron that was found a few months ago in multiple countries like Singapore and later in India. “XBB.1.5 has a greater ability to attach itself to the human ACE-2 receptor while retaining the outstanding immune evasiveness of its ancestor,” he was quoted as saying by The Free Press Journal.

Dr Jayadevan further explained that this variant has the ability to infect those who had prior infection or even vaccination. “Immune evasiveness is the ability of the virus to infect people who had prior infection or vaccination or both. XBB.1.5 achieved this by creating a rare type of mutation called F486P, located in its RBD (receptor binding domain). It is not known whether it causes more severe diseases. Experts believe it is unlikely to do so,” the expert was quoted as saying.

However, he said that continued vigil is needed to see if these ongoing genetic changes also enable the virus to cause more severe disease.

“The latest genomic surveillance data from India show XBB accounts for 20 per cent, while the older variant BA.2.75 is still dominant. This landscape could change,” he said.

XBB.1.5 is a descendant of the omicron XBB subvariant – which is itself a cross between two earlier strains: BA.2.75 and BA.2.10.1. The original XBB variant has already caused waves of infection in countries including Singapore and India since the WHO first raised concern about it last October, NDTV reported quoting Bloomberg.

While accounting for just 1% of all COVID cases at the start of December, estimates from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that it surged to become the dominant strain by the end of the month, responsible for about 41% of all infections. In northeastern states, that figure has jumped above 70%, according to the report.

XBB.1.5 is “the most transmissible sub-variant which has been detected yet,” said WHO’s COVID-19 technical lead, Maria Van Kerkhove, during a press conference on Jan 4. While only 29 countries have reported cases caused by it, health authorities are warning it could be much more widespread and silently proliferating thanks to a drop-off in testing. In other countries, the proportion of infections caused by XBB.1.5 has remained lower, although the picture may rapidly change. Estimates from the Wellcome Sanger Institute found that the variant made up around 4% of Covid infections in England as of mid-December, while Canada has found a handful of such cases.

Scientists pointed out that the sub-variant has a much stronger affinity to ACE2, a key receptor for the virus, which allows it to bind more easily and boosts its transmissibility.

There is limited data Data on XBB.1.5’s severity and its propensity to cause severe disease or death. Previous therapies to tackle COVID- like monoclonal antibody treatments – were rendered ineffective by previous strains. That trend is set to continue with the new variant. Scientists in a recent peer-reviewed article published in the journal Cell warned that subvariants like XBB pose “serious threats” to current COVID vaccines. Higher transmissibility also means more people are likely to get infected, and thereby suffer severe outcomes.

Asked at a media briefing here about the restrictions on Chinese travellers, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning went on the offensive saying, “We do not believe the entry restriction measures some countries have taken against China are science-based”.

“Some of these measures are disproportionate and simply unacceptable. We firmly reject using Covid measures for political purposes and will take corresponding measures in response to varying situations via the principle of reciprocity,” she said, without elaborating.

“Health experts from many countries have said that the main variant now spreading in China has previously been found elsewhere already and that a new variant can emerge anywhere on the planet, which means entry restrictions targeting China are unnecessary,” she said.

“China always believes that for all countries, Covid response measures need to be science-based and proportionate. They should not be used for political manipulation, there should not be discriminatory measures against certain countries, and measures should not affect normal travel and people-to-people exchange and cooperation,” she said.

Starting from January 8, China will practically abandon its three-year-old stringent zero-Covid policy and its international isolation by fully opening its airports and ports for travel and trade, amidst the current massive coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The development comes at a time when China is grappling with a sudden spurt in infections fuelled by the Omicron variants after the Xi Jinping regime relaxed its stringent zero-Covid policy following a wave of anti-government protests.

While the announcement of scrapping all quarantine rules was widely welcomed at home, the timing of the opening also fuelled concerns abroad as it comes ahead of the country’s annual Spring Festival on January 22 during which millions of Chinese will travel to destinations all over the world.

It was the spring festival travels by the Chinese in 2020, especially from Wuhan where the coronavirus broke out that was largely blamed for its massive spread in the world, causing death and devastation unseen in the century.

The epidemiologist predicts that within the next 90 days, more than 60% of China and 10% of the global population are likely to contract the disease, with millions of fatalities expected.

R is equal to 16 for the current Omicron model. Every time someone contracts the infection, 16 more people do as well, he continued.

According to media sources, five fatalities and 2,722 new symptomatic coronavirus infections were recorded in China on Monday. According to a story from India Today, hospitals are overflowing with COVID patients, and numerous cities’ crematoriums are overflowing with dead.

Christopher Murray, the director of IHME, predicted that the number of COVID-19 cases in China will reach a peak around April 1 and surpass 322,000 fatalities. By then, a third of the Chinese population would have contracted the disease.

After an enormous public uproar, China abolished the strictest COVID restrictions in the world on December 7.