No Covid scare: Nothing to worry about Covid in Goa this New Year

PANAJI: There is nothing to worry about Covid in Goa this festive season as all the reported cases of the new sub-variant are quite old and the patients are all cured, the health authorities in the coastal state and party destination reiterated on Friday.

As reported earlier in an attempt to stem the negative press the Goa government on Thursday had said that the state has reported a total 19 cases of JN.1 sub variant of COVID-19, but all the cases are old and inactive and the patients are mostly cured and out of danger. The same clarification was repeated once again on Friday.

State epidemiologist Dr Prashant Suryavanshi told news agency PTI on Thursday that all the cases of JN.1 sub variant traced in Goa are now “not active” as they are old cases and have crossed the window period.

He said that during genome sequencing this varient was found in the samples collected from the suspected patients. “All those with this variant were having mild symptoms. They have recovered by now. These samples were collected over time,” Suryavanshi said via a press statement.

As of Thursday, the state has 16 active cases of COVID-19 with four new cases detected in tests during the day. A total of 193 samples were tested for the virus on Thursday, as per the bulletin issued by Directorate of Health Services.

Meanwhile, Soumya Swaminathan, former WHO chief scientist, addressed concerns about the new JN.1 Covid-19 variant, stating that there’s no immediate need for alarm as it’s categorized as a variant of interest and not of major concern. “We are closely monitoring the spread of the new variant,” Swaminathan said.

Recently classified by the WHO as a variant of interest separate from its BA.2.86 lineage, JN.1’s overall risk remains low based on existing evidence and data from different affected nations, as emphasised by the global health body.