Centre's guidelines on new COVID-19 variant implemented in MP: CM Yadav

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has said his government has implemented guidelines issued by the Centre in connection with a new variant of COVID-19, amid an uptick in the viral infection cases in some states.

Yadav on Monday night visited Hamidia Hospital, the largest state government hospital in Bhopal, to take stock of the arrangements.

"The health department is working with full efficiency to deal with COVID-19 as well as all other diseases," Yadav told reporters after visiting the medical facility.

"We have implemented guidelines issued by the Centre regarding a new variant of COVID-19 in the entire state," he said.

Yadav said the country got victory over the pandemic earlier also under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The CM also interacted with the attendants of patients during the visit to the hospital.

On Monday, the Centre asked states and Union Territories to maintain constant vigil amid the rise in COVID-19 cases and the detection of the first case of the new JN.1 variant in the country.

India's first case of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 was detected in Kerala on December 8. Earlier, a traveller from Tamil Nadu's Tiruchirappalli district tested positive for the JN.1 variant in Singapore.

In a letter to states and Union Territories, Union Health Secretary Sudhansh Pant has underlined that "due to consistent and collaborative actions between the Centre and state governments, we have been able to sustain the (COVID-19) trajectory at sustainable low rates".

"However, as the COVID-19 virus continues to circulate and its epidemiology behaviour gets settled with Indian weather conditions and circulation of other usual pathogens, it is important to keep the momentum going to effectively deal with the challenges in public health," he said.

Recently, a few states like Kerala have reported a slight increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, Pant noted.