India records 160 new COVID-19 cases, active tally at 1,886

File Photo

India has logged 160 new COVID-19 cases, while the number of active cases of the infection stood at 1,886, the health ministry said on Wednesday, reported news agency PTI.

Two new deaths -- one each from Karnataka and Kerala-- have been reported in a span of 24 hours, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am, reported PTI.

The number of daily cases had dropped to double-digits till December 5, 2023 but they again began to increase after emergence of a new variant and cold weather conditions.

A single day rise of 841 new cases were reported on December 31, 2023 which is 0.2 per cent of the peak cases reported in May 2021, official sources said, reported PTI.

Of the total active cases, a large majority of these (around 92 per cent) are recovering under home isolation.

"The currently available data suggests that the JN.1 variant is neither leading to an exponential rise in new cases nor a surge in hospitalisation and mortality," the sources stated, reported PTI.

India has witnessed three waves of COVID-19 in the past with the peak incidence of daily new cases and deaths being reported in the Delta wave during April-June 2021.

At its peak, 4,14,188 new COVID-19 cases and 3,915 deaths were reported on May 7, 2021.

Since the pandemic began in early 2020, more than 4.5 crore people have got infected and over 5.3 lakh people have died across the country due to the infection.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease stands at over 4.4 crore with a national recovery rate of 98.81 per cent, according to the ministry's website.

According to the website, 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccines have so far been administered in the country.

Meanwhile, at least 90 per cent of Taiwan's population has likely contracted COVID-19, the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) said Tuesday, citing a seroprevalence study last year that looked into the prevalence of the disease and the recent spike in cases, reported ANI.

The CDC, which tested 7,000 randomly selected blood donation samples collected in Taiwan between January and June, found that nearly 80 percent came from people who had contracted COVID-19, CDC Deputy Director General Lo Yi-chun said in a weekly briefing, reported ANI.

Considering the recent rise in COVID-19 cases -- which had eased before starting to spike again at the beginning of this year-- around 90 per cent of the population has likely been infected, he said, reported ANI.

The CDC explained that the study, which was conducted per World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, tested for a neutralising antibody the body produces following COVID-19 exposure, reported ANI.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI)