New Delhi: India has reported a total of 145 cases of Covid-19 subvariant JN.1 till December 28, official sources said on Friday.

"A total of 145 cases of JN.1 variant have been reported till December 28. These samples were collected between November 21 and December 18, 2023," official sources told news agency ANI.

The highest number of JN.1 variant cases have been reported from Kerala. The state reported 41 cases of the JN.1 subvariant, the majority of which were home isolated, official sources said.

Ahead of the New Year, both the central and state governments are keeping a close watch on the new Omicron Subvariant JN.1.

As per the latest updates, India reported 797 new Covid-19 cases, and the active cases tally stands at 4,000 in the last 24 hours.

JN.1 is a Variant of Interest (VOI) which is under intense scientific scrutiny. As of December 16, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported 7,344 cases of Covid-19 JN.1 subvariant from 41 countries.

Meanwhile, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) of Delhi on Wednesday issued guidelines for Covid-19 suspected or positive cases that will be reported at hospitals following the sudden surge in the cases of Coronavirus in the country.

The AIIMS Delhi director held a meeting with all heads of departments of the hospital on COVID-19 contingency measures on Wednesday. In the meeting, the policy on COVID-19 testing, the areas to be designated for positive patients, and their hospitalization was discussed.

As per the policy on COVID-19 testing, directed by the management, testing will be done for patients with SARI (severe acute respiratory infection) like symptoms that include according to the WHO, acute respiratory infection, persistent fever or fever of 38 degrees Celsius with cough and onset within last 10 days.