Still unexplained
The hunt for the origins of Covid-19 has for the past four years been a tangled web of politics, power struggles, and international finger-pointing.
The Uttarakhand government on Wednesday directed the health department and all district heads to be on alert in view of rising cases of new COVID-19 JN.1 variant in Kerala and other states.
An advisory issued by Health Secretary R Rajesh Kumar directed the district magistrates and chief medical officers (CMOs) in the state to follow the coronavirus guidelines issued by the central government, in letter and spirit.
“Advisory to follow central government operational guidelines for revised surveillance strategy in the context of COVID-19 was issued to all district magistrates. CMOs have been asked to closely monitor the conditions of Influenza like Illness (ILI) patients, Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) patients and those having heart problems. They have also been asked to conduct Covid tests of ILI and SARI patients,” Kumar told The Statesman.
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He said hospitals have been instructed to enter every detail of influenza patients tested for Covid in the Integrated Health Information Platform portal and also create awareness about respiratory hygiene.
The senior official said although the hill state has not reported any JN.1 variant case so far, but the government is taking all precautionary steps besides sounding alert to the people in the state.
Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have reported cases of the new variant. An
80-year-old JN1 positive patient died in Kerala recently, forcing the central government to issue special guidelines to all states for taking necessary preventive steps.
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