India records 605 new COVID-19 cases, active tally at 3,643

India has recorded 605 new COVID19 cases while the number of active cases of the infection has declined to 3643 the health ministry said on Wednesday reported news agency PTIFour deaths two each from Karnataka and Kerala have been reported in a span of 24 hours according to the ministrys data updated at 8 am reported PTIThe number of daily cases had dropped to doubledigits till December 5 2023 but cases began to increase after emergence of a new variant and cold weather conditions reported PTIAfter December 5 841 new COVID19 cases were reported on December 31 2023 which was 02 per cent of the peak cases reported in May 2021 official sources said reported PTIOf the total active cases a large majority of these around 92 per cent are recovering under home isolation reported PTIThe currently available data suggests that the JN1 variant is neither leading to an exponential rise in new cases nor a surge in hospitalisation and mortality the official source stated reported PTIIndia has witnessed three waves of COVID19 in the past with the peak incidence of daily new cases and deaths being reported during the Delta wave in AprilJune 2021At its peak 414188 new cases and 3915 deaths were reported on May 7 2021Since the pandemic began in early 2020 more than 45 crore people have got infected and over 53 lakh have died since then across the countryThe number of people who have recuperated from the disease stands at over 44 crore with a national recovery rate of 9881 per cent according to the ministrys websiteAccording to the website 22067 crore doses of Covid vaccines have so far been administered in the countryThe Centre has asked the states and Union territories to maintain a constant vigil amid an uptick in the number of COVID19 cases and the detection of the JN1 subvariant of the virus in the countryThe states have been urged to ensure effective compliance of the detailed operational guidelines for the revised Covid surveillance strategy shared with them by the Union Ministry of Health and Family WelfareThe states have also been asked to monitor and regularly report districtwise cases of Influenzalike Illness ILI and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness SARI from all health facilities for an early detection of a rising trend of casesThe World Health Organisation WHO has classified JN1 as a separate variant of interest given its rapidlyincreasing spread but said it poses a low global public health riskThe JN1 subvariant of the coronavirus was previously classified as a variant of interest VOI as part of the BA286 sublineages the parent lineage that is classified as a VOI the world body saidWith inputs from PTI