Covid-19 cases in India: 203 new cases, 4 deaths reported in last 24 hours

India registered 203 new Covid-19 patients in the last 24 hours, with the total number of cases reaching 3,961 in the latest coronavirus outbreak, showed health ministry data on Monday. 

The disease that brought the world to a standstill in 2020 claimed four more lives, one each in Delhi, Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, with the toll reaching 32 since 1 January 2025.

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Kerala (1,435), Maharashtra (506), Delhi (483), Gujarat (338), and West Bengal (331) have reported the most number of cases so far. 

This fresh wave has been caused by two new coronavirus variants, NB.1.8.1 and LF.7, mutations of the Omicron offspring JN.1 variant. Both were found in India.  

The positivity rate stands at approximately 64.08%. A high positivity rate suggests higher transmission and that there are likely more people with coronavirus in the community who haven’t been tested yet.

Dr Vikas Maurya, head of the pulmonary department at Fortis Healthcare, Shalimar Bagh, New Delhi, said they were largely seeing Covid-19 patients with mild infection, taking a maximum of one week to recover. “Right now, every second person who has symptoms like cough, cold, fever and sore throat should get themselves tested for covid-19 and use a mask and isolate themselves.” 

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He said most patients are inquiring about the Covid-19 vaccine. However, due to its unavailability, people who are willing to take the vaccine are not able to get the shot. “The vaccine should be there, and it should be made voluntary for those who wish to take it.” 

Recently, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, former director of the Indian Council of Medical Research and ex-chief scientist at the World Health Organisation, urged pharma companies to ensure that they can create a vaccine for the latest coronavirus variant.

The health ministry's Covid-19 dashboard revealed that at least 370 patients recovered from the infection or got discharged in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of active cases to 2,188. 

A senior government scientist involved in the monitoring of the infection said the disease is not going to make a major impact on the population this time. “We have all the tools to monitor Covid-19. The government has increased the testing capacity; it's doing the sentinel surveillance to target the select population in a specific location. The infection is mild, so there is nothing to worry.”

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