India: More than 200 fresh Covid cases, one death recorded in last 24 hours in Kerala

Kerala, the southern Indian state, has reported 265 new Covidcases andone death in the last 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data. While 594 fresh Covid-19 cases were recorded across the country during the same period.The total number of active coronaviruscases in the country now stands at 2997.

Watch | Covid-19 JN.1 variant: India witnesses surge in Covid-19 cases

There are rising concerns in India about the emergence of new variant of coronavirus.Soumya Swaminathan, former chief scientist of the World Health Organization has, however,said there was no reason to panic at this stage as it is a variant of interest and not a variant of concern. But she appealed to people to take precautionary measures.

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"We need to be cautious, but we don't need to worry because we don't have any data to suggest that this variant JN.1 is more severe or it's going to cause more pneumonia, more death," said Swaminathan who was also Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

"I think what we need to do is try to take the normal preventive measures that we are all now familiar with. We were familiar with Omicron, so it's the same family. So not much has changed, but 1 or 2 new mutations have come up. And that's why I think WHO has said let's keep a watch on it. It's a variant of interest. It's not a variant of concern," ANI quotedSwaminathan as saying.

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She recommended people to wear masks and to 'avoid being in a very closed environment with very poor ventilation' and with too many people around.

So do wear a mask if you're in that type of very close setting because prolonged exposure to somebody infected increases the risk of infection," she said.

"Try to be in an open space rather than in most cases, have gatherings and now ventilated places today, entering into the season of gatherings," said Swaminathan.

"If you have some warning symptoms and signs like severe fatigue, prolonged fever or you're feeling breathless, visit the hospital," she said.

The World Health Organization recently declared JN.1 variant of coronavirus as a variant of interest. The agency however, has said that based on current evidence, the overall risk is low.

(With inputs from agencies)