Covid Cases in India Live Updates: India reports 743 new Covid cases, seven deaths

THE TIMES OF INDIA | Dec 31, 2023, 08:35:55 IST

China battles winter respiratory infection surge amid Covid fallout and policy shifts

Whether it’s Covid-19, which shook the world three years ago, or a recent surge in acute respiratory infections, China has consistently been a hub of infectious outbreaks. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared in November that the increase in hospitalizations in China is linked to regular winter diseases rather than new pathogens. This winter’s spike in infections was predicted to be the first in China without Covid-19 restrictions since the epidemic started in 2020. The majority of spikes in disease that occurred when Covid-19 restrictions were eased in other nations were caused by influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

India recorded 743 new Covid-19 cases and seven deaths on Saturday. Kerala reported a maximum of three deaths in a span of 24 hours followed by Karnataka (2), and Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu one each. The cumulative tally of Covid-19 cases in India since the beginning of the pandemic in January 2020 is now 4,50,12,484. The total death toll has now reached 5,33,358, with the latest additions in the last 24 hours.

172 new Covid-19 cases reported in Maharashtra today

A total of 172 cases of Covid-19 were eported in Maharashtra today, as per the data shared by the Public Health Department. As per the data, the State recorded a total of 10 cases of Covid-19 sub-variant JN.1 till today, with the highest number of infections reported from Thane Municipal Corporation. While Thane Municpal Corporation has reported five cases, Pune Municipal Corporation recorded 2, Pune Rural, Akola Municipal Corporation and Sindhudurg recorded one case each.

Covid-19: 32 fresh cases reported in Greater Mumbai area

As many as 32 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded in the Greater Mumbai Area on Saturday, the health department said. This brings the total number of positive patients to 208, as per the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Public Health Department. Of the new cases, three were hospitalised today (Saturday), increasing the total number of hospitalised patients to 22. Currently, 14 out of 4,215 available beds are occupied, the Public Health Department said.

Karnataka logs 201 fresh Covid-19 cases and 1 new death

Karnataka on Saturday reported 201 fresh cases of Covid-19 and one new coronavirus-related death in the past 24 hours. This takes the total number of active cases in the state to 833, a health department bulletin said. With this, the total number of covid-19 related deaths in the state after the recent spike in cases has touched more than 10, it said. According to the bulletin, in the past 24 hours, 60 patients have been discharged, a total of 7,060 tests have been taken, including 5,549 RTPCR and 1,511 Rapid Antigen tests.

Goa has reported a total of 47 cases of the JN.1 variant of Covid-19 till date, state epidemiologist Dr Prashant Suryavanshi said on Saturday.

Indore: Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) Nodal Officer Dr Amit Malakar said, “A total of 11 cases of Covid-19 have been detected in this month so far, including a woman tested positive on Friday. Of these, four patients have recovered in home isolation and now there are seven active cases in the city.”

Some patients have travel history while some tested positive after attending wedding functions. Although there is no need to panic, those who are suffering from cold and cough should avoid visiting the crowded places, he added.

There are a total of 10 active cases in Bhopal; eight are in home isolation and two are hospitalised.

On the other hand, the Covid-19 cases are also continuously increasing in Indore and there are a total of seven active cases in the city with one fresh Covid-19 case reported on Friday.

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 Union health ministry’s website.

58-year-old man tests positive for Covid-19 in Gwalior; Bhopal records 2 fresh Covid cases, Indore one

A 58-year-old man has been tested positive for COVID-19 in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior district and his sample sent for examining the new JN.1 variant of Covid-19, an official said. The patient visited Bageshwar Dham, Chhatarpur a few days ago and he is undergoing treatment in home isolation.

Odisha asks medical colleges, CDMOs to increase surveillance, testing for potential Covid-19 surge

The daily numbers were in lakhs at the peak of the pandemic, which began in early 2020. More than 4.5 crore people have been infected and over 5.3 lakh have died across the country in four years.

The number of daily cases was in double digits till December 5 but it began to rise again amid cold weather conditions and after the emergence of a new COVID-19 variant.

Seven new fatalities — three from Kerala, two from Karnataka and one each from Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu — were reported in a span of 24 hours, according to the ministry’s data updated at 8 am.

India reports 743 new Covid cases, seven deaths

Gurugram hospitals on alert for Covid-19 sub-variant JN.1

‘Covid risk evaluation will be clearer as more evidence arises’

Last week, the highest daily number of fresh Covid cases in the country was 752, recorded on December 22. This week’s peak (so far) is only slightly higher, showing that infections were rising only gradually.
The daily numbers were in lakhs at the peak of the pandemic, which began in early 2020 and has seen 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 98.8%. According to the health ministry, 220.6 crore doses of Covid vaccines have been administeredin the country. Dr Neeraj Nischal, additional professor, department of medicine at AIIMS, said the available evidence on JN.1 did not suggest that there were any significantly increased disease severity parameters like increased hospitalisation, oxygen/ventilator requirement or mortality among infected persons, relative to the other currently circulating Omicron descendent lineages.

India reports 743 new Covid cases in last 24 hours: Health ministry

Covid infections are rising, but gradually

Last week, the highest daily number of fresh Covid cases in the country was 752, recorded on December 22. This week’s peak (so far) is only slightly higher, showing that infections were rising only gradually.
The daily numbers were in lakhs at the peak of the pandemic, which began in early 2020 and has seen 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 98.8%. According to the health ministry, 220.6 crore doses of Covid vaccines have been administered in the country.
Dr Neeraj Nischal, additional professor, department of medicine at AIIMS, said the available evidence on JN.1 did not suggest that there wereany significantly increased disease severity parameters like increased hospitalisation, oxygen/ventilator requirement or mortality among infected persons, relative to the other currently circulating Omicron descendent lineages.

What’s up with your current vaccine status?

In the covid-19 first cabinet sub-committee meeting held on December 26, it was stated that the other 30,000 doses of covid-19 vaccine will be procured for vaccinations as precautionary doses. The Health and Family Welfare department officials have revealed that a request for doses of Corbevax has been placed with the Government of India and is said to be received by the first week of January.
According to Dr Rajani Nageshrao, deputy director, Immunisation, Department of Health and Family Welfare, the vaccines will be administered at district hospitals and major general hospitals to eligible beneficiaries who have not received precautionary doses before to vulnerable groups, that is, elderly groups, immunocompromised people, and health care workers.

Covid variant spreading, but no rise in hospitalisations seen yet

Coronavirus subvariant JN.1 is gradually increasing in India with total of 162 confirmed cases so far, a person in the know told ET, even as the country reported 798 new Covid cases on Friday.
The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (Insacog), the network of laboratories set up to monitor genomic variations of the coronavirus in India, held a meeting on Friday to review the situation amid a spike in Covid-19 cases and decided to hold another meeting next week to understand the proportion of JN.1 and other subvariants. “JN.1 is gradually spreading out, but the good news is that there is no increase in hospitalisation yet,” said an Insacog member who attended the meeting.

West Bengal: 10 new Covid cases in state, most from Kolkata

Ten new Covid cases were reported in the state on Friday, pushing up the active case count to 30.
Sources in the state health department said a majority of these cases were from Kolkata. Though this is a climbdown from Thursday’s 14 fresh cases, experts said the numbers are likely to rise in the coming days, especially when there will be large gatherings during the festivity ahead.
The 10 new cases in Bengal were among the 797 from across the country in the past 24 hours. Even as India repor-ted five Covid deaths on Friday, there was no Covid casualty in the state. On Thursday, the state recorded a Covid death after more than four months.

Maharashtra reports 129 fresh COVID-19 cases; number of people infected with JN.1 variant remains at 10

At least 129 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Maharashtra on Friday, the health department said. The number of patients infected with the JN.1 variant remains at 10. According to the Public Health Department of Maharashtra, 80,23,487 COVID-19 patients have been discharged after full recovery.

Daily Covid cases rise to 797; a 7-month high; 5 more deaths

‘Legend of Tamil film world’: PM Modi condoles demise of DMDK chief Vijayakanth

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday condoled the demise of DMDK founder-leader and actor Vijayakanth on Thursday. Vijayakanth passed away in Chennai aged 71 after testing positive for Covid-19 earlier in the day.

A total of 145 cases of JN.1 variant have been reported till 28th December, these samples were collected between 21 November and 18th December 2023: Sources

Four Covid deaths, 702 fresh cases in a day

India recorded four more deaths due to Covid-19 in one day — one each from Karnataka, Kerala, Bengal and Delhi — while the daily tally of infections stood at 702, the health ministry said.