NEW DELHI: The health ministry announced on Thursday that while there are still 3,422 active cases of COVID-19 in India, there have been 514 new cases of the virus. The ministry’s data, updated at 8 am, shows that three deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours—two in Maharashtra and one in Karnataka. Up until December 5, 2023, the number of daily cases had decreased to double digits; however, cases started to rise as a result of the cold weather and the appearance of a new sub-variant JN.1. According to government sources, after December 5, there was a maximum one-day increase of 841 new cases recorded on December 31, 2023, or 0.2% of the peak instances recorded in May 2021. Approximately 92% of all active cases are being treated at home in isolation. “The currently available data suggests that the JN.1 sub-variant is neither leading to an exponential rise in the new cases nor a surge in the hospitalisation and mortality,” said an official source. India has previously experienced three waves of COVID-19, with the delta wave, which is expected to occur in April–June 2021, reporting the highest daily incidence of new cases and deaths. On May 7, 2021, the number of new cases and deaths reported reached 414,188, the peak. According to the ministry’s website, nearly 4.4 crore individuals have recovered from the illness, meaning that the country’s recovery rate is 98.81 percent. As per the website, the nation has administered 220.67 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines thus far.
