India reports 760 new Covid cases, two deaths

New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) India has recorded 760 new Covid-19 cases and two deaths in the past 24 hours, said the Union health ministry on Thursday.

Two new fatalities -- one each from Kerala and Karnataka -- were reported in the span of 24 hours, according to the ministry's data. On Wednesday, five deaths were reported, one each from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Punjab, two from Kerala.

The number of new Covid infections reported in the last 24 hours was 158 more compared to a day before, however, the total number of active cases marginally fell to 4,423 from Wednesday's 4,440.

The country had recorded 865 new cases on May 19, 2023.

As of now, the total number of coronavirus cases in India, since the outbreak in January 2020, has reached 4,50,15, 843.

The death toll related to Covid cases in the country has risen to 5,33,373.

The new variant, JN.1 subvariant is descendent of the Omicron subvariant known as BA.2.86 or Pirola, with Kerala being the first state to report a case.

Kerala and Karnataka continue to witness JN.1 variant cases, with other affected states being Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Telangana, Odisha, and Haryana, as per the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG).

These states collectively reported 511 cases of the sub-variant by Tuesday, with Karnataka leading with 199 cases, followed by Kerala with 148 cases. INSACOG's data revealed that 239 Covid cases in December 2023, and 24 in November 2023, were identified with the presence of the JN.1 variant.

"A total of 511 cases of the JN.1 series variant have been reported from 11 states till January 2. 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 has said.

The overall recovery from Covid has reached over 4.4 crore individuals, reflecting a national recovery rate of 98.81 per cent.

The country has administered a total of 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccines, as per the available data.