With Goa reporting the maximum cases of JN.1 — the new Covid-19 sub-variant — in the country at 19, the state authorities on Wednesday said that there was “no need to panic, yet”. The coastal state on Wednesday reported no fresh cases of Covid-19.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday designated JN.1 as a “variant of interest” (VOI), separate from its ancestor BA.2.86 that is commonly referred to as Pirola.

State epidemiologist Dr Prashant Suryavanshi told The Indian Express, “Total 19 cases of the new variant have been reported in Goa. These cases were detected through genome sequencing, with most of them being sporadic, reported from North Goa area. All the patients showed mild symptoms of cough and cold, and were not hospitalised. They recovered after a seven-day home isolation. There were no clusters as such. We are tracking the travel history of these patients.”

The health department, meanwhile, said that it is all set to ramp up the surveillance and testing to tackle any fresh Covid-19 outbreak in the state, which is likely to record a heavy footfall of tourists this festive season.