India records 305 new COVID-19 cases, active tally at 2,439

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India saw a single day rise of 305 new COVID-19 cases, while the number of active cases of the infection has declined to 2,439, the health ministry said on Thursday, reported news agency PTI.

Three deaths -- one each from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat -- have been reported in a span of last 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, but cases began to increase after emergence of a new variant and cold weather conditions.

After December 5, a maximum of a single-day rise of 841 new cases were reported on December 31, which is 0.2 per cent of the peak cases reported in May 2021, official sources said, reported PTI.

Of the total active cases, around 92 per cent are recovering under home isolation.

"The currently available data suggests that the JN.1 sub-variant is neither leading to an exponential rise in the new cases nor a surge in the hospitalisation and mortality," the official source 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 during the delta wave during April-June 2021.

At its peak, 414,188 new COVID-19 cases and 3915 deaths were reported on May 7, 2021.

Since the pandemic began in early 2020, there have been more than 4.5 crore people getting infected and over 5.3 lakh deaths in about four years since then across the country.

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, Maharashtra on Wednesday registered 81 fresh COVID-19 cases and one fatality, while the tally of patients infected with the JN.1 sub-variant has risen to 451 so far, the state health department said.

The sole fatality was reported from Pune city. The COVID-19 fatality rate in Maharashtra currently stands at 1.81 per cent, it said. Mumbai registered 26 fresh cases.

At 189, Pune leads the tally of patients found to be infected by the JN.1 sub-variant of Omicron in the state.

Pune is followed by Thane (89 cases of JN.1 sub-variant), Mumbai (37), Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar (31), Nagpur (30), Raigad (13), Solapur and Amravati (9), Sangli and Kolhapur (7), Ratnagiri (5), Jalgaon and Hingoli (4), Ahmadnagar and Beed (3), Nanded, Nashik and Dharashiv (2), and one each in Akola, Satara, Sindhudurg Yavatmal and Nandurbar, as per the health department.

(With inputs from PTI)