India reports 355 new Covid-19 infections, active cases now 2,331

India has recorded a single-day increase of 355 new COVID-19 infections and the number of active cases of the disease in the country now stands at 2,331, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday.

Two deaths were reported in 24 hours – one each from Karnataka and Kerala, according to data updated by the ministry at 8 am.

The number of daily Covid cases had fallen into double digits before December 5, but started rising after the emergence of a new variant and cold weather conditions.

After December 5, the highest single-day increase of 841 new cases was recorded on December 31, 2023, which is 0.2 per cent of the peak cases reported in May 2021, official sources said.

Of the total active cases, about 92 percent of the patients are recovering in home isolation.

“Currently available data suggests that the JN.1 variant is neither leading to a rapid increase in new cases nor an increase in hospitalizations and mortality,” the official source said.

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

At its peak, on May 7, 2021, 4,14,188 new cases and 3,915 deaths were recorded.

Since the pandemic began in early 2020, more than 4.5 crore people have been infected across the country and more than 5.3 lakh have died.

According to the ministry’s website, the number of people who have recovered from the disease has crossed 4.4 crore and the national recovery rate is 98.81 per cent.

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

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)