Pakistan reported four cases of JN.1, a subtype of the Omicron variant of new COVID-19, on Sunday night.
Health officials, while confirming the diagnosis of the contagious type, said that the four infected people who entered the country from abroad with mild symptoms have recovered from the disease on their own.
New COVID-19 variant
An official from the National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHS, R&C) said that after the infected people tested positive for COVID-19, they were found to be infected with the JN.1 subtype when their genome was sequenced.
The JN.1 subtype of Omicron has been designated a variant of interest (VoI) by the World Health Organization and JN.1 is rapidly replacing other Omicron subtypes worldwide.
A few days ago, health authorities in Pakistan began mandatory testing of 2% of incoming travelers for COVID-19 and began sending samples for genome sequencing to detect sub-variants of JN.1.
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Caretaker Federal Health Minister Dr. Nadeem Jan, while commenting on the detection of the JN.1 subtype, said that there is no need to panic as 90 percent of the Pakistani population had been vaccinated against COVID-19, adding that the Border Health Service officials are alert. and functional in accordance with international health regulations.
“People should take precautions, wash their hands frequently with soap or use hand sanitizer and use masks, and protect themselves from flu and other respiratory diseases, including COVID-19,” he added. So one should keep distance from people.”