India on full alert as new Covid variant emerges

India has stepped up its surveillance measures amid a rise in reported cases of a new coronavirus subvariant, according to officials.

The country saw a total of 614 fresh infections, the biggest rise in the last seven months.

The current spike has been attributed to Covid subvariant JN.1, labelled a “variant of interest” by the World Health Organisation on Tuesday.

The active cases in the country have risen to 2,311, while three deaths have been reported in Kerala, according to Indian news reports, citing data from the federal health ministry.