NEW DELHI: India has so far recorded 324 cases of COVID-19, which includes 290 cases of KP.2 and 34 cases of KP.1— sub-variants of JN1 (an offshoot of the Omicron variant) that are responsible for the surge in cases in Singapore—news agency PTI reported on Tuesday citing sources in INSACOG. 

The report stressed that there is no associated increase in hospitalization and severe cases, so there is no reason for concern or panic. The mutations will keep happening at a rapid pace, and this is the natural behaviour of viruses like SARS-CoV2.

According to data compiled by the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), 34 cases of KP.1 have been found across seven states and UTs, with 23 cases registered from West Bengal.

Data compiled by the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) showed that 34 cases of KP.1 have been found across seven states and UTs, with 23 cases registered from West Bengal. Four cases of KP.1 have been reported from Maharashtra, two from Rajasthan and Gujarat, and one from Goa, Haryana, and Uttarakhand.

Similarly, the INSACOG has traced nearly 290 cases of KP.2 across the country, including 148 from Maharashtra alone, the highest among the other states reporting the KP.2 cases. The other states and Union territories reporting KP.2 sub-variants are West Bengal (36), Gujarat (23), Rajasthan (21), Uttarakhand (16), Odisha (17), Goa (12), Uttar Pradesh (8), Karnataka (4), Haryana (3), Madhya Pradesh and Delhi one each.

The report further said that the INSACOG is able to pick up the emergence of any new variant and samples are also picked from hospitals in a structured manner to detect any change in the severity of disease due to virus.

It is important to note that Singapore is experiencing a new wave of COVID-19, as authorities recorded more than 25,900 cases from May 5 to 11. The cases are nearly doubling week-on-week. The government has issued a health advisory asking people to wear masks again.

The estimated number of COVID-19 infections in the week of May 5 to 11 rose to 25,900 – a 90% increase compared with the 13,700 cases in the previous week, Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) said.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the predominant COVID-19 variants globally are still JN.1 and its sub-lineages, including KP.1 and KP.2. and the global health organization has put KP.2 as a Variant Under Monitoring.

Scientists have also nicknamed KP.1 and KP.2 as 'FLiRT', after the technical names of their mutations.