Bhubaneswar: Two cases of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 have been detected in Odisha, a senior official said Thursday.
The two cases were detected in Sundargarh and Bhubaneswar, Director of Health Services Bijay Kumar Mohapatra said, adding that the health conditions of both patients are stable.
“Samples of 28 people who were found to be COVID-positive were sent for genome sequencing and of them, two were found to be infected with the JN.1 variant,” he said.
The patient from Sundargarh was under treatment at home and has completed his isolation period. None of his contacts were found to be symptomatic, Mohapatra said.
The other patient is an elderly woman who was under treatment at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar. She is stable at present, he said.
“We are following all protocols set for the JN.1 sub-variant,” he added.
“Detection of a new variant of a virus is normal. After JN.1, another new variant of the COVID-19 may come. Besides, the scientific community has said that the severity of the JN.1 variant is not established yet. So, there is no need to panic,” the director said.
At present, there are 25 active cases in the state, officials said.
PTI