India Reports 375 New COVID-19 Cases

India has recorded 375 new cases of Covid-19, with the number of active cases decreasing to 3,075, as reported by the health ministry on Sunday. Over the past 24 hours, two deaths were reported from Karnataka. Despite the emergence of the JN.1 variant and cold weather conditions, the daily cases had dropped to double digits until December 5. However, they began to rise again, reaching 841 new cases on December 31, 2023, representing 0.2% of the peak cases reported in May 2021.

According to official sources cited by news agency PTI, the currently available data suggests that the JN.1 variant is not causing an exponential rise in new cases or an increase in hospitalization and mortality.

India has experienced three waves of Covid-19, with the Delta wave in April–June 2021 recording the highest number of daily new cases and fatalities. At its peak on May 7, 2021, 414,188 new cases and 3,915 deaths were reported.

Since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020, over 4.5 crore people in India have been infected with coronavirus, resulting in over 5.3 lakh deaths. The number of recoveries stands at more than 4.4 crore, with a national recovery rate of 98.81%. Notably, 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccines have been administered in the country, according to the ministry's website.

The JN.1 sub-variant of COVID-19 has now spread to 15 states and Union territories in India, with a total of 923 reported cases. Karnataka leads with 214 cases, followed by Maharashtra (170), Kerala (154), Andhra Pradesh (105), Gujarat (76), and Goa (66), according to data from the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG).