While the spread of the JN.1 subvariant of COVID-19 has prompted concerns from governments worldwide, Health Minister Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) reassured the public that the ministry is continuing to monitor developments of the variant during an interview on Tuesday.
Answering media inquiries, Hsueh said that while the JN.1 variant is a descendant of BA.2.86, the rate of severe illnesses caused by the virus is not significantly higher. There is also no significant difference between the JN.1 and other variants.
However, Hsueh reminded the public that the virus becomes more active during cold weather. With the temperature change, respiratory infections and the spread of the virus are expected to increase in Taiwan. Hsueh called on the public to protect themselves by getting vaccinated against the XBB variant, as well as the flu and pneumonia.
Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Spokesperson Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) says that Taiwan's dominant virus strain is still EG.5, a subvariant of XBB. He adds that there have only been sporadic cases of the JN.1 variant in Taiwan so far. Lo pointed out that the current weekly epidemic report combines both the JN.1 and BA.2.86 cases, with domestic JN.1 cases accounting for less than 5% and imported cases accounting for less than 20%.