The government of Karnataka in India has ordered people over 60 years of age, those with heart and kidney diseases, and those with fever, phlegm, and colds to wear masks compulsorily amid the JN.1 Covid-19 subvariant scare.
Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao has announced that the state government will issue an order on Tuesday following the detection of the JN.1 subvariant of the coronavirus in the neighbouring state of Kerala.
India’s Covid-19 situation remains under control, with an active caseload of 1,828 as of Monday. However, one death was reported in Kerala, where the JN.1 subvariant of the coronavirus was recently detected. JN.1 was first detected in September 2023 in the United States.
In the wake of the surge in respiratory diseases and the new JN.1 Covid sub-variant, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that the virus is evolving and changing and urged the member states to continue with strong surveillance and sequence sharing.