New Delhi, December 29: India has reported 797 fresh cases of COVID-19, marking the highest daily count in 225 days, according to the health ministry’s latest update on Friday. The number of active cases currently stands at 4,091. Over the past 24 hours, five new fatalities due to COVID-19 have been recorded, including two from Kerala and one each from Maharashtra, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu.

Comparatively, the country had recorded 865 new cases on May 19. Daily case numbers had reduced to double digits until December 5 but have seen an uptick again, attributed to the emergence of a new variant and cold weather conditions.

During the peak of the pandemic, daily case numbers were in the lakhs. Since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, India has witnessed over 4.5 crore infections and more than 5.3 lakh deaths in approximately four years.

The recovery rate remains high, with over 4.4 crore individuals having recuperated from the disease, resulting in a national recovery rate of 98.81%, as per the ministry’s website. Notably, the country has administered 220.67 crore doses of COVID vaccines to date.