Three deaths — two in Maharashtra and one in Karnataka — have been reported in a span of 24 hours, according to the ministry's data.
Three out of every four cases in December 2023 were turning out to be JN.1. (Shutterstock)
India recorded 514 new cases of Covid, while the number of active cases of the infection has declined to 3,422, as per data from the Union Health Ministry’s website on Thursday, 11 January.
Three deaths — two in Maharashtra and one in Karnataka — have been reported in a span of 24 hours, according to the ministry’s data updated at 8 am.
Of the 514 new cases, Karnataka reported the highest number of new cases, with 201 cases. This was followed by Maharashtra with 98 new cases and Kerala with 85 new cases between 10 January 8 am and 11 January 8 am.
The current number of active cases in the three states stand at 974 (Karnataka), 849 (Maharashtra), and 613 (Kerala). All three states have seen a decline in the number of active cases.
Karnataka also saw the most number of discharges, with 257 patients discharged from hospital. This was followed by Kerala with 195 patients discharged.
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana have reported 12, 11, and 6 new cases on Thursday, respectively, with 162, 84, and 38 active cases in these states.
India, overall, has reported 716 cases of the JN.1 variant since November 2023, according to the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG).
Maharashtra has reported the highest number of JN.1 cases in India at 170 as of Thursday, 11 January, followed by Kerala (154), Andhra Pradesh (105), Gujarat (76), Goa (51), Telangana and Rajasthan (32), Chhattisgarh (25), Tamil Nadu (22), Karnataka (20), Delhi (16), Haryana (5), Odisha (3), West Bengal (2), and Uttarakhand (1).
At the beginning of the year, INSACOG stated that seven out of 10 samples sent for genome sequencing are testing positive for the JN.1 variant of Covid-19.
Despite its ability to rapidly spread, the infection is milder and mostly asymptomatic. Information from across the world suggests that the cases are mild, with symptoms such as a cold, sore throat, low-grade fever (around 100 degrees Fahrenheit), body pain, weakness, and dry cough.
People are recovering quickly as these symptoms are generally manageable with symptomatic treatments like fever-reducing medication and pain relief.
While the WHO has classified JN.1 as a separate “variant of interest” due to its rapidly increasing spread, it poses a “low” global public health risk.
The number of daily cases had dropped to double digits till 5 December 2023, but cases began to increase after the emergence of a new sub-variant — JN.1 — and cold weather conditions.
After 5 December, a maximum of a single-day rise of 841 new cases was reported on 31 December 2023, which is 0.2 percent of the peak cases reported in May 2021, official sources said.
Of the total active cases, around 92 per cent are recovering under home isolation.
“The currently available data suggests that the JN.1 subvariant is neither leading to an exponential rise in the new cases nor a surge in the hospitalisation and mortality,” an official source stated.
India has witnessed three waves of Covid in the past with the peak incidence of daily new cases and deaths being reported during the delta wave during April-June 2021. At its peak, 414,188 new cases and 3915 deaths were reported on May 7, 2021.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease stands at over 4.5 crore with a national recovery rate of 98.81 percent, according to the ministry’s data.
According to the data, 220.67 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines have so far been administered in the country.
(With PTI inputs)
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