As the new COVID-19 variant JN.1 has been detected in Kerala, along with a slight surge in cases there, officials in Maharashtra said a mock drill was recently conducted to take stock of the available infrastructure in the state in case numbers start rising. The state reported 11 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday; eight cases were reported from Mumbai, two in Thane, one in Pimpri-Chinchwad.

As of December 19, there are 35 active cases in the state—27 from Mumbai, five in Thane, two in Pune and one in Kolhapur. “The numbers show a rise in Mumbai because our surveillance and reporting system has strengthened over the years. We have a large number of testing labs and the state’s major hospitals are here, so it is expected that the city will see a slight rise now and then, but it is nothing alarming,” said Dr Daksha Shah, executive health officer with the BMC’s health department.