GUWAHATI: India has witnessed a significant surge in active COVID-19 cases, with numbers more than doubling in the past nine days, escalating from 938 on December 11 to 1,970 on December 19, as per reports.
Experts are drawing attention to a subvariant, BA.2.86 (commonly known as Pirola), which is suspected to be contributing to the spike in COVID-19 cases globally, including the United States.
Insacog, the Indian central government's consortium of labs, has identified 19 sequences of the BA.2.86 subvariant, named JN.1, with one case reported in Maharashtra and 18 in Goa, as per reports.
The subvariant was initially detected in Kerala a few days ago as per an official PIB press release.
Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman of the National Indian Medical Association (IMA) COVID-19 Task Force, highlighted the rapid spread of JN.1 in Western nations, with wastewater surveillance indicating a significant presence of this variant, media reports stated.
Jayadevan emphasised that wastewater surveillance conducted by the Tata Institute for Genetics and Society (TIGS), Bengaluru, demonstrated a spike, typically preceding regional surges by about 10 days. However, detecting cases depends on efficient testing for individuals displaying compatible symptoms.