New Delhi, January 17: India witnessed a single-day increase of 269 new cases of COVID-19, with the number of active cases declining to 2,556, as reported by the health ministry on Wednesday. In the last 24 hours, three deaths were reported—two from Kerala and one from Maharashtra.
The daily cases had reduced to double digits until December 5, but a resurgence occurred following the emergence of a new variant and cold weather conditions. After December 5, the highest single-day rise was 841 new cases on December 31, 2023, representing 0.2% of the peak cases reported in May 2021.
Of the total active cases, approximately 92% are recovering under home isolation. The official source mentioned that the JN.1 sub-variant is not causing an exponential rise in new cases or a surge in hospitalization and mortality.
India has experienced three waves of COVID-19, with the delta wave peaking in April-June 2021. The highest daily new cases and deaths during this wave were reported on May 7, 2021, with 414,188 new cases and 3,915 deaths.
Since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, over 4.5 crore people have been infected, and more than 5.3 lakh deaths have occurred across the country in about four years. The number of recovered individuals stands at over 4.4 crore, with a national recovery rate of 98.81%, according to the ministry’s website. Over 220.67 crore doses of COVID vaccines have been administered in the country, as per the website data.
