COVID surge: Active cases in country recorded at 4,423; two deaths in last 24 hours

According to the data provided by the Union Health Ministry on Thursday, the nation witnessed 760 new cases of Covid as two more deaths have been reported in the country in the last 24 hours--one each in Kerala and Karnataka.

Hyderabad:India saw a single-day rise of 760 new cases of COVID-19 while two people succumbed to the viral disease in the last 24 hours, the health ministry said on Thursday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the number of active cases of the infection was logged at 4,423. The new fatalities -- one each from Kerala and Karnataka -- were reported in 24 hours.

In Kerala, a 39-year-old male with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and in Karnataka a 65-year-old male with Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Decompensated Liver Cirrhosis, Portal Vein Thrombosis, diabetes and Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) succumbed to Covid.

With this, the total count of coronavirus cases in India since its outbreak in January 2020 has reached 4,50,15,896. The death toll due to COVID-19 cases in India has risen to 533373, reflecting an increase of two deaths.

On the other hand, two cases of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 have been detected in Odisha, a senior official said on Thursday. The cases were detected in Sundargarh and Bhubaneswar, Director of Health Services Bijay Kumar Mohapatra said, adding that the health conditions of both patients are stable.

The number of daily cases had dropped to double-digits till December 5, but cases have again gone up after the emergence of a new variant and cold weather conditions. The daily numbers were in lakhs at the peak of the pandemic, which began in early 2020 and has seen more than 4.5 crore people getting infected and over 5.3 lakh deaths in about four years since then across the country.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently classified JN.1 as a variant of interest, distinct from its parent lineage BA.2.86. However, the global health body emphasised that the overall risk posed by JN.1 remains low based on current evidence. (With Agency Inputs)

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