COVID-19 Update: India Records 774 New Cases, 2 Deaths in Last 24 Hours

India reported 774 new Covid-19 cases and two deaths, with the active caseload decreasing to 4,187 from the previous day's 4,334, as per the Union Health Ministry's Saturday update. The fatalities recorded in the past 24 hours include one each from Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, bringing the total death toll to 5,33,387, according to the 8 am data.

Of the 4,187 active cases, over 92 per cent are recovering under home isolation. In the last 24 hours, 919 individuals recovered, contributing to a total of 4.44 crore (4,44,79,804) recoveries. The health ministry reported a national recovery rate of 98.81 per cent, with a fatality rate of 1.18 per cent.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak in January 2020, India has reported a total of 4.50 crore (4,50,17,378) cases. The health ministry indicates that 220.67 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across the country.

On Friday, India recorded a single-day rise of 761 new Covid-19 cases and 12 deaths. The daily cases, which were in double digits until December 5, began rising again amid cold weather conditions and the emergence of the new coronavirus variant JN.1. After December 5, the highest single-day rise of 841 cases was reported on December 31, 2023, amounting to 0.2 per cent of the peak cases reported in May 2021, according to official sources.

An official source stated, "The currently available data suggests that the JN.1 variant is neither leading to an exponential rise in new cases nor a surge in hospitalization and mortality."

The tally of Covid-19 sub-variant JN.1 has risen to 619 cases reported from 12 states till January 4, according to official sources. Karnataka leads with 199 cases, followed by Kerala (148), Maharashtra (110), Goa (47), Gujarat (36), Andhra Pradesh (30), Tamil Nadu (26), Delhi (15), Rajasthan (4), Telangana (2), and one each from Odisha and Haryana.

Despite the rising number of JN.1 cases, officials reassure the public, stating that there is no immediate cause for concern as the majority of those infected are opting for home-based treatment, indicating mild illness. The Centre has urged states and Union territories to maintain constant vigilance amid an uptick in Covid-19 cases and the detection of the JN.1 sub-variant.

States have been instructed to monitor and report district-wise cases of Influenza-like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) in all health facilities. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified JN.1 as a "variant of interest" (VOI) due to its rapidly increasing spread but emphasizes that it poses a "low" global public health risk. JN.1 was previously classified as a variant of interest (VOI) as part of the BA.2.86 sub-lineages, the parent lineage that is classified as a VOI, according to the World Health Organization.