Covid-19 Cases: New Variants Detected In India, WHO Says 'Not Variants Of Concern' | Is There Anything To Fear?

Amid the rising scare over the fresh Covid-19 cases being reported across some states, two new variants NB.1.8.1 and LF.7 have been detected in India, PTI reported citing INSACOG data. However, the health ministry has urged people to refrain from panicking as most of the cases are mild in intensity and the patients are mostly in home care.

"It may be noted that there is a robust pan India system for surveillance of respiratory illnesses including Covid-19 through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) and ICMR바카라�s pan India respiratory virus sentinel surveillance network. It is observed that most of these cases are  mild and under home care", an official health ministry source told reporters on Saturday.

Authorities are closely monitoring the situation, especially with neighboring countries like Singapore and Hong Kong seeing sharp rises in cases.

According to the Union Health Ministry, as of Wednesday, India recorded a total of 257 active cases. The cases have been on a surge in states of Maharashtra, Telangana, Haryana, Kerala, Gujarat and Karnataka. One case of the newly emerging variant NB.1.8.1 and four instances of the LF.7 type have been detected in India, according to INSACOG data.

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According to data from the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), one case of NB.1.8.1 was identified in April in Tamil Nadu and four cases of LF.7 were detected in Gujarat in May.

These above-mentioned variants are reportedly driving the rise in Covid cases in China and parts of Asia while in India, JN.1 remains the most common variant comprising 53 per cent of samples tested, followed by BA.2 (26 per cent) and other Omicron sublineages (20 per cent).

'Variants Under Monitoring', Not 'Variants Of Concern': WHO

PTI reported that as of May 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified LF.7 and NB.1.8 subvariants as 'Variants Under Monitoring' and not 'Variants of Concern' or 'Variants of Interest'.

According to , the NB.1.8.1 subvariant is posing a low public health risk globally at this moment. However, the global health watch dog mentioned that its spike protein mutations such as A435S, V445H, and T478I suggest increased transmissibility and immune evasion compared to other variants.

바카라�Considering the available evidence, the additional public health risk posed by NB.1.8.1 is evaluated as low at the global level. Currently approved Covid-19 vaccines are expected to remain effective to this variant against symptomatic and severe disease바카라�, the WHO said.

Taking cognisance of the surge in positive cases in Southeast Asian nations, official health ministry sources said, "It may also be mentioned that there have been some media reports regarding increase in Covid 19 cases in Singapore, Hong Kong and other countries in the recent past. It has been ascertained from the respective National IHR focal points that there is no indication that the circulating variants are more transmissible or cause more severe disease compared to the previously circulating variants."

Doctors Saying No Need To Panic

In view of the increasing panic over the renewed cases of Covid-19 infections, doctors have been advising people to refrain from panicking as the new strains are not severe and most patients have only reported mild symptoms.

Indian Medical Association Junior Doctors Network (IMA JDN) national spokesperson Dr Dhruv Chauhan said that people need not panic about the JN.1 variant, which is a descendant of the Omicron BA.2.86, according to PTI.