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Covid-19 update: Karnataka reports 229 cases, 2 more deaths in Kerala

India has reported 636 new cases of Covid-19, while the number of active cases has increased to 4,394 as of 1 January.

Published Jan 01, 2024 | 3:52 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 01, 2024 | 3:52 PM

IISc has created a new Covid vaccine, the RS2. (Creative commons.)

Karnataka reported the highest recent daily spurt of 229 fresh Covid-19 cases, while Kerala reported 140 new cases in the 24 hours — as of 8 am on Monday, 1 January — according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare website.

India has logged 636 new cases of Covid-19, while the number of active cases increased to 4,394.

Three new fatalities due to Covid-19 — two from Kerala and one from Tamil Nadu — have been reported in the 24 hours, the Ministry said.

Andhra Pradesh reported 30 new cases, while Tamil Nadu reported 28 cases, and Telangana reported five cases.

Also Read: WHO classifies JN.1 variant of Covid-19 as ‘Variant of Interest’

JN.1 cases in India

Kerala has reported 83 cases of the JN.1 variant of Covid-19 as of Monday. India, overall, reported a total of 196 cases of the variant since November 2023, according to the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG).

Aside from Kerala, JN.1 variants were detected in Goa (51), Gujarat (34), Karnataka (8), Maharashtra (7), Rajasthan (5), Tamil Nadu (4), Telangana (2), Odisha (1), and Delhi (1).

The World Health Organization (WHO) designated the SARS-CoV-2 subvariant JN.1 as a distinct variant of interest (VOI) from its original lineage BA.2.86 due to its rapid proliferation.

The earliest known case of the JN.1 variant emerged in Kerala on 10 November, when a male patient tested positive for Covid-19, prompting his samples to undergo genomic sequencing.

Also read: Why are genome sequencing, and constant monitoring still important?

Overall Covid-19 numbers in India

The number of daily cases was in the double digits till 5 December last year, but cases have risen since then after the emergence of a new variant, the JN.1, 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 number of people who have recuperated from the disease stands at over 4.4 crore with a national recovery rate of 98.81 percent, the Ministry’s website said.

As many as 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccines have so far been administered in the country.