ISLAMABAD: Amid growing fears of the spread of a new variant of COVID-19, the National Command and Operations Center (NCOC) has decided to resume mandatory testing of 2% of incoming passengers, The News reported on Thursday.
Testing will help detect and prevent the JN.1 subvariant of COVID-19.
However, there were later reports of unavailability of testing kits and personal protective equipment (PPE) as major airports, including Islamabad and Karachi, lacked the equipment, officials said in the publication.
“On the instruction of the temporary federal minister of health, Dr. Nadeem Jana, surveillance has been increased at the country’s entry points, including airports, and two percent mandatory testing for COVID-19 has been resumed to detect the JN.1 variant of SARS-CoV-2 or the coronavirus,” an NCOC official told The News on Wednesday.
Ironically, neither COVID-19 test kits nor PPE were available at many points of entry for health workers associated with Border Health Services (BHS). Officials said neither the kits nor the PPE were procured after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared in June that COVID-19 was no longer a public health emergency of international concern.
Although the positivity of COVID-19 remained extremely low in the country and no case of its JN.1 variant had been detected by Wednesday, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued recommendations for the prevention and control of the JN.1 subvariant.
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Citing the World Health Organization (WHO), the NIH advisory said that the JN.1 subvariant has been classified as a variant of interest (VOI) and is essentially an offshoot of the BA.2.86 subvariant of the omicron variant of COVID-19. It was first reported in August 2023 US-CDC.
In recent weeks, JN.1 has been reported in many countries and its prevalence is rapidly increasing globally, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) advisory office said, adding that this rapid growth is observed in three WHO regions with consistent sharing of the SARS-CoV-2 sequence. i.e. the Americas, the Western Pacific and the European regions, with the largest increase seen in the Western Pacific from 1.1% in epidemiologic week 44 to 65.6% in epidemiologic week 48.
“The purpose of this advisory is to alert and facilitate health authorities and other stakeholders to ensure timely prevention and control measures including preparedness to deal with the increased workload expected in outpatient and inpatient units over the next several weeks,” the NIH said. .
The National Institute of Health further stated that although JN.1 is rapidly replacing other subvariants and its transmissibility is expected to be high, it is unlikely to cause the morbidity and mortality of the earlier stage of the pandemic. are low according to current statistics.
“The clinical presentation of JN.1 infection is similar to other subvariants including cough, sore throat, nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, fatigue, headache, muscle pain and altered sense of smell. However, the presentation of symptoms depends on the individual’s immunity to vaccination and previous infection. It is important to know that existing vaccines, tests and treatments still work well against JN.1,” the advisory said.
In addition, citing WHO’s overall risk assessment, NIH Islamabad said that despite the rapid increase in JN.1 infections, the limited evidence available does not suggest that the associated disease severity is greater compared to other circulating variants. Currently available vaccines also offer the same protection against this JN.1 subvariant as other variants, he added.
As for prevention and control measures, the NIH recommended that if someone is sick or has been in close contact with someone with a flu-like illness, wash their hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and water and use hand sanitizer if soap and water are recommended unavailable.
The NIH further advised people to practice respiratory etiquette by covering their mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing with their elbow, advising sick patients to stay home, rest, avoid crowds and take social distancing measures until they recover.
The NIH has identified vaccination as the most effective way to prevent infection and its serious consequences, especially in high-risk groups. The more antibodies with the complete vaccine or boosters, the better the chances of reducing COVID-19 infection, especially in high-risk groups including the elderly population, people with comorbidities and people working in high-risk environments, he added.
