Bengaluru on Wednesday recorded two more Covid deaths with the latest being a senior citizen who succumbed to the virus on December 17. This comes amid a renewed threat due to subvariant JN.1, which has led to a spike in fresh infections in India over the past 24 hours.
The death of a 76-year-old man with influenza-like symptoms was reported on December 17 while a 44-year-old asymptomatic patient died on December 16. Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has called a meeting on Thursday to deal with any surge in coronavirus cases. The meeting, which will have the technical advisory committee on Covid and other experts, is to assess the state’s preparedness.
According to Karnataka health department, the 44-year-old asymptomatic patient was admitted to the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research in Bengaluru on November 23. The patient had other comorbidities like heart disease. The symptomatic 76-year-old was admitted to a private hospital on September 12 after he complained of breathlessness, following which he succumbed to ‘aspiration pneumonia’.
State health minister Dinesh Gundurao said the department is trying to find out if Covid was the primary cause of death in these two cases. “We want to find out if they died due to Covid. At the same time, we have advised the administration to increase daily testing to 1,500 tests. We have enough ventilator beds. If required, we will procure additional medicines wherever required,” he said.
Karnataka has already sounded a word of caution to senior citizens and those with comorbidities, asking them to mask up in public places and avoid crowded and closed public spaces.
According to updated information from the ministry of health and family welfare, Kerala too reported three Covid deaths in the last 24 hours while overall active cases have increased to 2,311. With Christmas and New Year celebrations round the corner, India has recorded at least 614 new cases in the last 24 hours. This is the highest for the country in a 24-hour period since May 21, even as the US and China reported a surge in infections.
India has reported 21 cases of the JN.1 Covid variant. According to official sources, 19 cases of JN.1 have been traced in Goa and one each in Kerala and Maharashtra. Over the past two weeks, 16 deaths related to Covid-19 were recorded with the victims having serious comorbidities.
On Tuesday (December 20), the WHO classified JN.1 as a separate variant of interest (VOI) from the parent lineage BA.2.86. It was previously classified as VOI as part of BA.2.86 sublineages.
(With PTI inputs)
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