New Delhi, January 27: India recorded a slight increase of 159 new COVID-19 infections in a single day, bringing the total count of active cases to 1,623, as reported by the Union health ministry on Saturday. Within the same 24-hour period, one fatality due to the infection was reported in Kerala, according to the ministry’s 8 am update.
The daily COVID-19 cases in the country had dwindled to double digits by December 5, only to rise subsequently following the emergence of a new variant and the onset of cold weather conditions. After December 5, the highest single-day surge of 841 new cases was reported on December 31.
Among the total active cases, approximately 92 percent are recovering under home isolation. An official source stated, “The currently available data suggests that the JN.1 variant is neither leading to an exponential rise in new cases nor a surge in hospitalization and mortality.”
India has witnessed three waves of COVID-19 in the past, with the peak incidence of daily new cases and deaths occurring during the delta wave from April to June 2021. At its zenith, on May 7, 2021, 4,14,188 cases and 3,915 deaths were reported.
Since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, over 4.5 crore people in India have been infected by the disease, resulting in over 5.3 lakh recorded deaths. The number of individuals who have successfully recovered from the disease exceeds 4.4 crore, contributing to a national recovery rate of 98.81 percent, according to the ministry’s website.
In terms of vaccinations, the ministry reported that 220.67 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country so far.
