Maharashtra reports 70 new Covid-19 cases; Positivity rate at 2.09 per cent

Maharashtra has reported 70 Covid19 cases on Monday at a positivity rate of 209 per cent down from 131 a day earlier a health department official saidThere were no deaths due to the ailment while 32 persons were discharged during the day he addedThe state has 693 active cases of which only 42 are in hospitals while the remaining are in home isolation the official saidOf these 42 persons who are hospitalised nine are in ICU and 33 are in nonICU wards he addedOf the 87637095 samples that have been tested since the pandemic began a total of 8172906 have returned positive at a positivity rate of 933 per cent a health department bulletin saidA total of 3347 samples were tested on Monday comprising 1454 by the RTPCR method and 1893 through RAT test it saidThe recovery rate in the state stands at 9817 per cent the bulletin informedMeanwhile a total of 197 cases of Covid19 subvariant JN1 have been detected in the country so far with Odisha joining the list of states that have detected the presence of the variant according to INSACOGs data updated on MondayTen states and Union Territories have so far detected the presence of the JN1 subvariant of the virusThese states are Kerala 83 Goa 51 Gujarat 34 Karnataka eight Maharashtra eight Rajasthan five Tamil Nadu four Telangana two Odisha one and Delhi one according to the Indian SARSCoV2 Genomics Consortium INSACOGAlso read Shadow of a Covid wave powered by JN1 variant looms over early 2024The INSACOGs data showed 180 Covid cases recorded in the country in December had the presence of JN1 while 17 such cases were detected in NovemberThe World Health Organisation WHO has classified JN1 as a separate variant of interest given its rapidlyincreasing spread but said it poses a low global public health riskThe JN1 subvariant of the coronavirus was previously classified as a variant of interest VOI as part of the BA286 sublineages the parent lineage that is classified as a VOI the world body saidHowever in recent weeks JN1 cases continued to be reported from multiple countries and its prevalence has rapidly increased globallyThe Centre has asked states and Union Territories to maintain a constant vigil amid an uptick in the number of Covid cases and the detection of the JN1 subvariant in the countryIndia has recorded 636 new coronavirus infections while the active cases stood at 4394 according to the data released by the Union health ministry on Monday With inputs from agencies