NITI Aayog member Dr VK Paul asked fellow citizens not to panic about the new COVID-19 variant JN.1 and assured them that the Centre was taking the necessary precautions to combat the new variant.

New Delhi: Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Wednesday said that the city government is reviewing the COVID preparedness of the public health infrastructure in the national capital. This comes after several parts of the country reported surge in cases. “We have to be cautious but not create panic,” Saurabh Bharadwaj told ANI reacting to the reports of a new COVID variant detected in the country.

“We held meetings with virologists, pulmonologists and community health experts in Delhi two weeks back. We had told them to increase genome sequencing so that if the variant is detected in Delhi, we become alert. We are also reviewing our COVID preparedness, ” he added.

He said that cases of a new variant of the Omicron virus are increasing across the world.

“Cases have been identified in southern states in India too. One of the reasons could be that more testing is done in those states and there is more awareness there. Central Government has told all states to create more awareness,” the Minister said.

No Need To Panic, Says NITI Aayog Member Dr VK Paul

Earlier in the day, NITI Aayog member Dr VK Paul asked fellow citizens not to panic about the new COVID-19 variant JN.1 and assured them that the Centre was taking the necessary precautions to combat the new variant.

Speaking to the media, Dr VK Paul claimed that the new variant does not cause serious illness and the 16 deaths that have been reported in the last week were people with serious comorbidities.

“We must remember that COVID-19 has not gone till now, and the people need to be a little vigilant. The government needs to be prepared for everything and hence, the government is continuously focusing on the sequencing and surveillance work,” he added.

“Centre has requested all states to increase the tests and make the citizens aware of the protocols. There is no need to panic because we all have been vaccinated,” Paul said.

The total number of COVID cases reported nationwide till 8 am on Wednesday was 341, of which Kerala alone accounted for 292, Delhi and Gujarat reported 3 each, Karnataka logged 9 cases, Telangana and Puducherry 4 each, Tamil Nadu 13 and Maharashtra 11, according to data by the Union Health Ministry.

The total number of active COVID cases in the country is currently at 2,311, with the total number of fatalities reported since the arrival of the pandemic in India at 5,33,321, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.