India has so far reported 21 cases of the new coronavirus variant JN.1 from across the country, the government think tank NITI Aayog member (Health) VK Paul said today. Goa has reported 19 cases of the JN.1 variant, and Maharashtra and Kerala one each, sources said.

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya today reviewed the COVID-19 situation and preparedness of public health systems in view of rising Covid cases in some parts of the country.

“It is important to be on alert and be prepared against new and emerging strains of the coronavirus,” Mr Mandaviya said, according to a statement by the Health and Family Welfare Ministry today.

He asked for smooth coordination between the Centre and the states to ensure efficient management of Covid. “Let us undertake mock drills once every three months at both the central and state levels and share best practices,” the Health Minister said.

The Health Minister reminded the states that Covid is not over yet, so it is essential for the states to monitor emerging evidences of Covid cases, symptoms, and case severity to plan appropriate public health response.

Health Ministry secretary Sudhansh Pant in a presentation on the global and domestic Covid situation said cases in India are significantly less compared to the global numbers. But in the past two weeks, there has been a steep rise in active cases from 115 on December 6 to 614 today.

Of this, 92.8 per cent of the cases are home-isolation, indicating mild illness, and no increase in hospitalisation rates have been seen due to Covid, Mr Pant said during the presentation. The cases that are hospitalised are due to other medical conditions, while Covid is an incidental finding, the Health Secretary said, adding a rise in daily positivity rate has been observed in Kerala, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Karnataka. Positivity rate is the number of confirmed cases per 100 tests.

Mr Pant said the JN.1 variant is under intense scientific scrutiny but not a cause of immediate concern. No clustering of cases due to the JN.1 variant has been observed in India. All the cases were found to be mild, and the patients recovered without any complications.

Amidst much anticipation, the trailer of Merry Christmas is out. The Sriram Raghavan directorial features Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi. The film revolves around a fateful Christmas Eve.

The trailer of Merry Christmas set to a rendition of We Wish You A Merry Christmas sees Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi on a date on Christmas Eve. Their dreamy outing quickly turns dark. Both characters seem suspicious as they seem to be talking in riddles and hiding something.

Watch the trailer here:

The clip ends with Katrina Kaif’s character sitting in a theatre where Vijay’s character appears. The scene is set to a rendition of Silent Night.

The film also features Tinnu Raaj Anand, Sanjay Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Pratima Kannan, Radhika Apte and Ashwini Kalsekar, among others. 

Merry Christmas which was filmed in both Hindi and Tamil will release on January 12, 2024.

Ranbir Kapoor is currently enjoying the success of his latest movie Animal, which has broken box office records. Despite facing some criticism, the film received praise for Ranbir’s performance. Recently, a photo has surfaced showing the actor spending some time abroad.

The photo, featuring Ranbir with Sanjay Dutt’s daughter, Trishala Dutt, has gone viral on social media.

Trishala Dutt posted a photo on her Instagram stories with the caption “When an “animal” comes to visit.” The picture shows Ranbir Kapoor looking stylish in a sweater and cap. 

Meanwhile, on the work front, Ranbir Kapoor will reportedly be seen in Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayan alongside Sai Pallavi and Yash.

See Also: Shah Rukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor & more congratulate Rajkumar Hirani on completing 20 years in industry