ISLAMABAD: Federal Health Minister Dr Nad­eem Jan has said a new variant of Covid-19 “JN.1 Omicron” has been rep­o­rted in some countries and Pakistan is keeping an eye on developments.

“We have been monitoring the situation. It is a sub-variant of the Omicron but has not been reported in Pakistan yet. I believe there will be fewer chan­ces that the virus would travel to Pakistan as we are vigilant but there is need to be more careful,” he claimed on Tuesday. “We have increased screening at international border and testing of the people. Moreover, provincial and district governments have been also directed to increase testing.”

Also, the National Insti­tute of Health on Tuesday issued a report claiming that 3,609 tests of Covid-19 were held during last week of which 16 samples were found positive, with no mortality. While the positivity rate was 0.44pc, there were no critical pat­ients of Covid-19.

On Dec 19, the WHO declared JN.1 “a variant of interest” due to its “rapidly increasing spread”.

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2024