India recorded a single-day rise of 761 Covid-19 infections and 12 deaths in the past 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday.
The active caseload further dipped to 4,334 from 4,423 the previous day, the ministry data updated at 8 am stated.
Of the 12 fatalities, Kerala reported five deaths, four in Karnataka, two in Maharashtra and one in Uttar Pradesh, pushing the death toll to 5,33,385, according to the health ministry.
In the past 24 hours, 838 people recuperated from Covid-19, taking the total number of recoveries to 4.44 crore (4,44,78,885), the ministry said.
The national recovery rate stood at 98.81 per cent while the fatality rate was pegged at 1.18 per cent, according to the ministry.
So far, India has recorded 4.50 crore (4,50,16,604) since the Covid-19 outbreak in the country in January 2020.
On Thursday, India reported 760 new Covid-19 cases and two deaths in the past 24 hours. The previous day, the country recorded 602 fresh infections and five deaths.
The uptick in cases came after a period of relatively low infection rates, with daily cases having fallen to double digits until December 5 last year. The emergence of the coronavirus JN.1 sub-variant and colder weather conditions have contributed to the recent spike in cases.
Meanwhile, a total of 511 cases of JN.1 infections have been reported in the country so far with the maximum recorded in Karnataka, official sources said on Wednesday.
They said 199 cases have been reported from Karnataka, 148 from Kerala, 47 from Goa, 36 from Gujarat, 32 from Maharashtra, 26 from Tamil Nadu, 15 from Delhi, four from Rajasthan, two from Telangana and one each from Odisha and Haryana.
The WHO has classified JN.1 as a separate “variant of interest” given its rapidly increasing spread but said it poses a “low” global public health risk.
The JN.1 was previously classified as a variant of interest (VOI) as part of the BA.2.86 sub-lineages, the parent lineage that is classified as a VOI, the world body said.
The Centre has asked states and Union territories to maintain a constant vigil amid an uptick in the number of Covid-19 cases and the detection of the JN.1 sub-variant in the country.
States have been asked to monitor and report district-wise cases of Influenza-like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) in all health facilities.
(with inputs from PTI)
