Pune district in Maharashtra has reported the highest number of JN.1 Covid infections in the state, with 91 cases, according to a health department official. The state currently has 914 active cases, with the JN.1 variant tally reaching 110.
As per the official statement released on Thursday, Maharashtra has identified 110 cases of the JN.1 infection, a sub-variant of the Omicron strain from 12 districts. Of these, Pune district tops the list with 91 cases, followed by 5 in Thane, 3 in Beed, and 2 in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar. All other districts have reported JN.1 infection cases in single digits.
171 COVID-19 cases in State
On Thursday, Maharashtra recorded 171 COVID-19 cases and two deaths, with fatalities reported in Solapur and Kolhapur. Mumbai reported 32 cases, followed by 16 each in Thane city and Navi Mumbai.
A total of 531,342 tests were conducted on January 3, according to the official report by the Indian Council of Medical Research. Both central and state governments are closely monitoring the new Omicron subvariant JN.1.
JN.1 is classified as a Variant of Interest (VOI) by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is under intense scientific scrutiny. As of December 16, WHO reported 7,344 cases of the JN.1 subvariant from 41 countries, with India reporting 145 cases by December 28, as per official sources.
Despite being a distinct variant from its parent lineage BA.2.86, WHO emphasizes that the overall risk posed by JN.1 remains low based on current evidence.
