2019 is one of the most significant years in human history, as the world detected the first case of Covid infection, which later spread across the globe, putting the entire world into a state of shutdown.
After the rollout of vaccination, the world slowly returned to normalcy, and recent developments indicate that the planet is not Covid-free, as a fresh wave of infection has slowly started sweeping across various countries.
According to the latest reports, countries like Singapore, India, and China have started signs of another outbreak, with a new variant named JN.1 sparking concerns.
Singapore witnessed a caseload of over 50,000 in the week of December 3 to 9, while the new variant JN.1 was detected in Kerala, a southern state in India.
Global Times, a Chinese media outlet reported that the Asian giant detected seven mild and asymptomatic cases of contracting the COVID-19 subvariant JN.1 in about a month, with at least 40 other countries reporting the subvariant, as of December 10.
According to data updated last Friday by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hospitalizations related to COVID-19 infection rose to over 23,000.
In India, the southern state of Kerala is currently the hotbed of Covid infections. Even though the state's health minister Veena George conveyed optimism regarding the outbreak, stating that nothing is there to worry about, neighboring states have already started surveillance, and are planning to conduct tests on travelers arriving from Kerala.
Earlier in November, a mysterious pneumonia grappled China, with young children primarily becoming infected.
According to medical experts, the illness is also known as walking pneumonia, and it is prevalent among school children.
However, Chinese officials, at that time, said that the mysterious pneumonia could not be considered a new virus outbreak, instead, it is the common flu which children used to develop as winter nears.
