India saw a 774 increase in Covid cases in a single day on Saturday, with 4,187 active cases, according to the Union health ministry. According to data updated by the ministry at 8 am, up to two deaths were reported in a 24-hour period, one from Gujarat and one from Tamil Nadu. Over 92% of the 4,187 active cases are being treated at home while they recover.
The number of daily cases was in double digits till December 5 but it began to rise again amid cold weather conditions and after the emergence of a new Covid-19 variant, JN.1. The Centre has already asked states and Union territories to maintain a constant vigil amid an uptick in the number of Covid cases and the detection of the JN.1 sub-variant in the country.
Following December 5, December 31, 2023, saw the largest single-day increase of 841 cases, or 0.2% of the peak cases recorded in May 2021, according to PTI.
According to an official, the JN.1 variant is not causing an exponential increase in the number of new cases or a spike in hospital admissions or mortality rates in the nation.
Concurrently, the government of Karnataka mandated that individuals suffering from Influenza Like Illness (ILI) or Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) undergo the Covid test. Dinesh Gundu Rao, the minister of health for Karnataka, stated that the COVID positivity rate is 3.82% and that over 7,000 tests are performed daily. The state’s positivity rate hasn’t decreased yet.
“Those with symptoms are being monitored and tested. Those who are in isolation at home have been told to take extra care. It is expected that the trend of decreasing Covid cases may start next week in Karnataka,” he added.
India has witnessed three waves of Covid-19 in the past with the peak incidence of daily cases and deaths being reported during the Delta wave during April-June 2021. At its peak, 4,14,188 cases and 3,915 deaths were reported on May 7, 2021.
Over 4.5 crore people have been infected and over 5.3 lakh have died nationwide since the pandemic started in early 2020.
According to the ministry’s website, over 4.4 crore people have recovered from the illness, meaning that the country’s recovery rate is 98.8%.
As per the website, the nation has administered 220.67 crore doses of the Covid vaccine so far.
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