New Year New Threat: India Records Highest Daily Covid Cases in Over Seven Months Amid JN.1 Infections

On Sunday, India witnessed a concerning surge in JN.1 infections, reporting its highest daily Covid cases in over seven months, totaling 841 cases, as per the Union Health Ministry. This uptick has propelled the active caseload to 4,309, according to the latest data available at 8 am. Additionally, the country reported three new fatalities due to the virus, with one death each recorded in Kerala, Karnataka, and Bihar.

While the early days of this month saw a relatively low daily case count, the advent of the new JN.1 sub-variant has triggered a spike in infections not only within India but also in various other countries, including the United States and Singapore.

As of Friday, nine states in India reported a total of 178 JN.1 cases, with Goa topping the list at 47, followed by Kerala with 41. Other states detecting JN.1 cases include Gujarat (36), Karnataka (34), Maharashtra (9), Rajasthan (4), Tamil Nadu (4), Telangana (2), and Delhi (1).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States recently highlighted that JN.1 is becoming the predominant variant, causing an increasing share of infections and establishing itself as the most widely circulating variant in the country.