Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Sunday said the Covid-19 sub-variant JN.1 that has been detected in the state was not a cause for concern.
The new case was detected as part of an ongoing routine surveillance activity of the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), a senior official from the Indian Council of Medical Research said on Saturday.
Speaking to the media about the new variant, George said this was detected months ago in Indian passengers who were screened at Singapore Airport.
“There is no need for any concern. It’s a sub-variant. It was just found here. Months ago, this variant was detected in a few Indians who were screened at the Singapore Airport. It’s just that Kerala has identified the variant here through genome sequencing. There is no need to worry. The situation is being closely monitored,” she said.