MUMBAI: A nine-year-old boy and a 21-year-old woman are among the five patients from neighbouring Thane city who tested positive for the new Covid JN.1 subvariant in the state, according to the state health department on Sunday.
Three from Pune district and one from Akola also tested positive for JN.1 on Sunday.
With these nine cases, the total tally of JN.1 – the highly transmissible subvariant –in Maharashtra has risen to 10; a 41-year-old man from Sindhudurg was the first case last week.
No JN.1 cases have been detected in Mumbai so far, said BMC officials who have just started sending Covid-positive samples to NIV Pune for gene sequencing; while standard tests state whether a person is Covid positive or not, gene sequencing finds the Covid sub-variant.
“We have begun sending positive samples for sequencing, but haven’t got back any report of JN.1 so far,’’ said BMC executive health officer Dr Daksha Shah.
The five Thane patients thus become the first JN.1 cases in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
A senior health official from the Thane Municipal Corporation said the TMC has sent 20 samples for gene sequencing since November 30.
“All the patients are stable and taking treatment at home. None of them have any travel history,’’ said the official.
A senior state official said that only one patient from Pune has a history of travel to the US. “All patients are in home isolation. They had mild symptoms and have recovered,’’ said the official. Nine of the 10 JN.1 patients are males.
Meanwhile, the state’s daily tally of Covid cases has been rising along with more tests. The number of tests almost doubled from 1,700-odd to 3,639 within 24 hours, with Sunday’s caseload rising to 50. Mumbai’s tally was 25.
At the moment, the state has 153 active Covid cases and half (77) are from Mumbai. The weekly Covid cases have jumped from 11 in the week from November 27 to December 3 while 153 cases have been detected in the December 18-24 period.
Three from Pune district and one from Akola also tested positive for JN.1 on Sunday.
With these nine cases, the total tally of JN.1 – the highly transmissible subvariant –in Maharashtra has risen to 10; a 41-year-old man from Sindhudurg was the first case last week.
No JN.1 cases have been detected in Mumbai so far, said BMC officials who have just started sending Covid-positive samples to NIV Pune for gene sequencing; while standard tests state whether a person is Covid positive or not, gene sequencing finds the Covid sub-variant.
“We have begun sending positive samples for sequencing, but haven’t got back any report of JN.1 so far,’’ said BMC executive health officer Dr Daksha Shah.
The five Thane patients thus become the first JN.1 cases in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
A senior health official from the Thane Municipal Corporation said the TMC has sent 20 samples for gene sequencing since November 30.
“All the patients are stable and taking treatment at home. None of them have any travel history,’’ said the official.
A senior state official said that only one patient from Pune has a history of travel to the US. “All patients are in home isolation. They had mild symptoms and have recovered,’’ said the official. Nine of the 10 JN.1 patients are males.
Meanwhile, the state’s daily tally of Covid cases has been rising along with more tests. The number of tests almost doubled from 1,700-odd to 3,639 within 24 hours, with Sunday’s caseload rising to 50. Mumbai’s tally was 25.
At the moment, the state has 153 active Covid cases and half (77) are from Mumbai. The weekly Covid cases have jumped from 11 in the week from November 27 to December 3 while 153 cases have been detected in the December 18-24 period.
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