By Vinod Chandrashekhar Dixit

Covid-19 never really left. We just stopped talking about it.

Now it’s back in the headlines, with numbers ticking upward again. Across India, there are 3,395 active cases. Kerala tops the list with over 1,300. Maharashtra and Delhi follow. In Jammu and Kashmir, just nine new infections have been reported. Nothing major. Nothing alarming. But still, it’s back.

The virus behind this small spike is a newer Omicron offshoot called JN.1 and its cousins. They’re part of the same family that’s been circulating for a while. Doctors say it’s clever — it sneaks past some immunity — but not more dangerous.

That’s good news. Most cases are mild. Low-grade fever, a dry cough, maybe a sore throat or a runny nose. Sometimes headaches or nausea. In rare cases, people feel too tired to get out of bed.

So what’s the big deal?

That’s a fair question. The short answer: we don’t want to be caught off guard again. Even if hospital beds aren’t filling up, we still need to pay attention. This new variant is good at spreading. It’s moving across Asia. And while it doesn’t seem severe, we’ve learned that Covid can be unpredictable. Especially in vulnerable groups — older adults, people with diabetes, or heart........

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