Pune reports 91 JN.1 cases, highest in Maharashtra
Pune district in Maharashtra reports the highest number of JN.1 Covid infections in the state, with 91 cases. Experts attribute the increase in cases to the recent New Year celebrations and lack of Covid appropriate behavior. The state has reported a total of 110 cases of the JN.1 sub-variant of Omicron in 12 districts.
Pune: The Pune district has reported 91 JN.1 Covid infection cases, the highest in Maharashtra. In the past two weeks, there has been an uptick in the number of Covid cases in the district with 141 active cases, the second-highest caseload reported by a district in Maharashtra, said officials.
Pune district earlier reported cases in single digit which has now increased to double digit. On Monday, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) reported 11 fresh cases, 5 in Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation and 15 in Pune Rural, respectively. The recent New Year celebration in the absence of Covid appropriate behaviour has contributed to the transmission of infection and an increase in the Covid cases, claim experts.
The state public health department on December 20 confirmed the first case of JN.1, Covid infection in a 41-year-old male from Sindhudurg. Following this, the health department has asked all local bodies across the state to increase testing and genome sequencing.
As per the official statement released by the health department on Wednesday, Maharashtra has reported 110 cases of JN.1 infection, a sub-variant of Omicron strain of Covid-19 in 12 districts of the state. Of these 110 patients, 91 infected with this new sub-variant 91 are from Pune district, followed by 5 in Thane, 3 in Beed and 2 in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar. All ten districts have reported JN.1 infection cases in single digit.
The state on Wednesday reported 171 fresh Covid cases, taking the total to 914 cases. Two deaths amongst Covid infected patients were reported in the state. These include one death from Solapur of a 73-year-old and another of a 101-year-old in Kolhapur. Both the patients had co-morbidities and underlying health conditions. However, none of the deceased were infected with the new JN.1 sub variant of Covid-19, said officials.
Since January 1, 2023, in Maharashtra, 139 Covid deaths have been recorded with 71.22% of these deaths occurred in individuals above 60 years of age, 84% had comorbidities, 16% has no morbidity.
Dr Rajesh Karyakarte, head, BJ Medical College microbiology department and member of state Covid-19 task force, said, the new JN.1 Covid-19 infection is already in circulation and due to testing and genome sequencing it has been documented. “World studies are showing that the JN.1 new sub-lineage of omicron sub-variant of Covid-19 is mild and the death rate is less. Although the cases are increasing, hospitalisation and deaths are less. But it is highly transmissible. The recent New Year celebration in the absence of Covid appropriate behaviour has contributed to the transmission of infection and increase in the cases,” he said.
Dr Raman Gangakhedkar, former head of epidemiology and communicable diseases at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and head of state Covid-19 task force, said, “The number of cases has increased as the testing is increased. This variant is mild and currently we cannot say that this is due to the past festive season. Seeing the current data, we cannot attribute the rising number to the festival celebration. It is too early to say that the festival celebration has fuelled the number of cases and we should wait and watch.”
