As per the data released, India's active COVID-19 caseload stood at 3,238. According to the ministry of health and family welfare, no deaths were reported in a span of 24 hours keeping the country's death toll to 5,33,412.
Similarly, 155 cases of the infection were reported in Kerala, and 94 in Andhra Pradesh. 80 cases have been reported in Gujarat, 49 in Goa, 30 in Rajasthan, 26 each in Tamil Nadu and Telangana.
Even though the number of cases is rising and the JN.1 sub-variant has been detected in the country, there is no cause of immediate concern as 92 per cent of those infected are opting for home-based treatment, indicating a mild illness, officials have told the media.
This alarming trend was observed in data shared by nearly 50 countries, predominantly in Europe and the Americas. "Although 10,000 deaths a month is far less than the peak of the pandemic, this level of preventable deaths is not acceptable," Ghebreyesus said, emphasizing the ongoing threat posed by the virus. He expressed certainty that Covid-19 cases are rising in regions that have not been reporting their data.
"JN.1 is an all new variant with numerous changes that had never been seen in any commonly circulating lineage before. This is unlike other recent variants, which were merely a few mutations from their predecessor," Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman of the National Indian Medical Association COVID Task Force, told a news agency.
“We are not seeing clusters of cases anywhere,” said health minister Ma Subramanian. “The new sub variants of Omicron mostly causes mild disease. Symptoms are mostly seen for four days. People recover with rest and home,” he said.
The WHO has "just called JN.1 a VOI (variant of interest), and that just doesn't cut it, with the growth advantage this variant has demonstrated. It is just extraordinary", Dr Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in California,US, was quoted as saying to Fortune.
The active case tally stands at 4,334, as per data on health ministry website on Friday morning. The official data reflected 12 Covid deaths in 24 hours.
A total of 511 cases of the JN.1 series variant have been reported from 11 states till January 2, 2024. Karnataka has reported 199 cases of the sub-variant. Kerala has reported 148 cases. 47 cases have been reported from Goa, 36 from Gujarat, 32 from Maharashtra," the health ministry stated on Wednesday.
Of the new cases, three were hospitalised today (Saturday), increasing the total number of hospitalised patients to 22. Currently, 14 out of 4,215 available beds are occupied, the Public Health Department said.
The country witnessed seven fatalities due to the virus in the last day, with Kerala reporting three deaths, Karnataka two, and Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu one each.
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