By – Shubhendra Singh Rajawat
On Friday, 761 new Covid cases were reported in India, bringing the total number of active cases to 4,334 – a reduction of 89 from the previous day.
As of Thursday, 619 cases of the JN.1 sub-variant of Covid-19 have been recorded from 12 states in India, according to the news agency PTI, which cited official sources. According to their statement, 199 cases were reported in Karnataka, 148 in Kerala, 110 in Maharashtra, 47 in Goa, 36 in Gujarat, 30 in Andhra Pradesh, 26 in Tamil Nadu, 15 in Delhi, 4 in Rajasthan, 2 in Telangana, and one each in Odisha and Haryana.
On Friday morning, data from the Union Health Ministry revealed that 761 new cases had been documented in the preceding 24 hours, bringing the total active cases to 4,334, 89 fewer than the previous day. Twelve deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours, with five in Kerala, four in Karnataka, two in Maharashtra, and one in Uttar Pradesh.
Daily case numbers were in the lakhs during the pandemic’s height in early 2020. Over the last four years, the country has experienced over 4.5 million illnesses and over 5.3 lakh deaths. According to the ministry’s website, the number of recoveries has topped 4.4 crore, resulting in a countrywide recovery rate of 98.81 percent.
Furthermore, the country has given out 220.67 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccinations, indicating great progress in vaccination efforts.
The World Health Organization presently classifies JN.1 as a separate “variant of interest” due to its fast increasing transmission rate, while it considers the worldwide public health danger it poses to be “low.”
Previously classified as a variation of interest (VOI) within the BA.2.86 sub-lineages, the JN.1 sub-variant of the coronavirus has now been specifically identified by the global health organization.
State-by-state situation
Kerala now has the most active Covid-19 cases (1,249), followed by Karnataka (1,240) and Maharashtra (914 active cases). Tamil Nadu has 190 active cases, while Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh both have 128.
Ajit Pawar, Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister, stated that the state government is keeping a close eye on the Covid-19 situation. The health department has been ordered to take the necessary safeguards to prevent the virus from spreading. Currently, the state has 914 active cases, with 110 infections linked to the JN.1 strain.
A senior official in Odisha confirmed the finding of two cases of the Covid-19 subvariant JN.1, stating that one patient is being treated and the other is symptom-free. One of the patients has a Kerala travel history. There are currently 26 active instances in the state, and the Director of Health Services, Bijay Kumar Mohapatra, assured that while new varieties are expected, there is no need for concern.
In Karnataka, new Covid-19 infections increased to 298 from 260 the previous day. In comparison to one death on Wednesday, the state reported four virus-related deaths. On Thursday, the optimism rate in Karnataka increased from 3.46 percent to 3.82 percent.