The latest report from the Union Health Ministry indicates a slight rise in Covid-19 cases with 475 new infections and six deaths in the past 24 hours. Among the fatalities, cases were reported from Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, and Assam. This comes after four deaths were reported on Monday from Kerala, Karnataka, and Tripura.
The total active cases have decreased to 3,919 from the previous count of 4,002. India has seen a cumulative total of 4,50,19,214 Covid-19 cases since the initial outbreak in January 2020, with the death toll reaching 5,33,402.
There's emerging concern regarding the JN.1 subvariant of the Omicron strain, which has rapidly become the dominant variant in Maharashtra. Genetic studies conducted on coronavirus samples from January revealed that the JN.1 subvariant accounts for nearly all cases in the state. Out of 21 sequenced samples from the city, all were found positive for the JN.1 subvariant, increasing the total count to 249 cases in Maharashtra.
Across the country, a total of 682 cases of the JN.1 variant have been reported from 12 states till January 6, with Kerala and Karnataka being affected. The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) reported JN.1 cases in Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Telangana, Odisha, and Haryana.
INSACOG's data highlighted 239 Covid cases in December 2023 and 24 in November 2023 identified with the JN.1 variant. Despite these concerning developments, India's overall recovery from Covid stands at over 4.4 crore individuals, reflecting a national recovery rate of 98.81 per cent.
The country has administered a total of 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccines, underlining the ongoing vaccination efforts.
(With Agency Inputs)
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