Karnataka has initiated precautionary measures to tackle any surge in the cases, health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said on Sunday
With COVID-19 cases rising in Kerala, Dinesh Gundu Rao, the Minister of Health and Family Welfare for Karnataka, advised senior citizens and those with comorbidities to wear masks
Speaking to reporters in Karnataka’s Kodagu, the health minister said, “We held a meeting yesterday where we discussed what steps should be taken. We'll issue an advisory soon. Those who are over 60 years of age and those who have heart problems, and have comorbidities must wear masks.”
“We have asked government hospitals to be prepared. Regions that share a border with Kerala must be more alert. Mangalore, Chamanajnagar and Kodagu must be alert. Testing will be increased. Those who have respiratory issues will have to mandatorily undergo tests,” he added.
India witnessed 335 fresh COVID-19 infections on Sunday and the number of active cases grew to 1,701, according to the Union Health Ministry.
Five deaths were reported -- four in Kerala, where the Covid sub-variant JN.1 was detected, and one in Uttar Pradesh, the Health Ministry data showed. The total Covid caseload in the country now stands at 4.50 crore (4,50,04,816).
The number of people who recovered from the infection scaled to 4.46 crore (4,44,69,799). The national recovery rate reached 98.81 per cent, the Health Ministry said.
Till now, 5,33,316 people have died due to Covid-19 and the case fatality rate stood at 1.19 per cent.
COVID-19 Sub-Variant JN.1 in Kerala
A case of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 has been found in a 79-year-old woman from Kerala as part of current routine surveillance of the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), a senior official from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said on Saturday (December 16).
The case was detected in an RT-PCR positive sample from Karakulam in Thiruvananthapuram district of the southern state on December 8, Dr Rajiv Bahl, Director General of the ICMR, said.
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