Centre issues advisory to states after first case of new coronavirus variant

The centre issued advisory to states after the first case of the new coronavirus variant JN.1 was detected in a sample taken from a 79-year-old woman with mild symptoms from Karakulam in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala.

Earlier, a traveller from Tamil Nadu's Tiruchirapalli district has been detected with NJ 1 sub-variant in Singapore.

The JN.1 variant of Covid is considered to be a descendent of the Omicron sub-variant BA.2.86 or Pirola. It was first detected in the United States in September 2023 and China detected seven infections of the particular sub-variant on December 15, as per a Reuters report.

As per the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the BA.2.86 has a total of 20 mutations on the spike protein, which is a concern because viruses use spike proteins to latch onto the cells of the host.