COVID-19 variant JN.1 in India: Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday virtually chaired a high-level meeting with health Ministers of various states to assess the current status and preparedness for COVID-19.
This comes at a time when the country is witnessing a surge in fresh COVID-19 cases. On Wednesday, a person died due to COVID-19 in Karnataka’s Bengaluru. Reportedly, he was also suffering from co-morbidity.
“It is time to work together in a “Whole of Government” approach, through closely working with each other. We need to be on the alert, but there is no need to panic. Important to be prepared with mock drills of hospital preparedness, increased surveillance and effective communication with people. Let us do mock drill in all hospitals once every 3 months. I assure all support of the Centre to States,” Mandaviya said during the meeting.
There should be no laxity in our preparedness, he said.
“Health is not an area for any politics. Union Health Ministry is available for every support. Union Health Minister also urged States to ensure preventive measures are taken given the cold conditions during winter season, and the coming festival season,” the Health Minister said.
MoS (Health) Prof SP Singh Baghel, and Dr Bharati Pawar, Health Minister of Uttarakhand Dr. Dhan Singh Rawat, ICMR DG Dr Rajeev Bahl DG, Dr V K Paul, Member (Health)NITI Aayog and former WHO Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan were also present during the meeting.
Kerala recorded 292 new COVID-19 cases and three fatalities in the last 24 hours, as stated by the Union Health Ministry’s data on Wednesday. Among the 341 reported infections nationwide till 8 am today, 292 cases emerged from Kerala, elevating the state’s active cases to 2,041 as per Ministry’s data.
