Adding to the sudden surge in Covid-19 cases in India, a 44-year-old man who returned from Nepal, tested positive for Covid-19 in Noida on Thursday. The sample has reportedly been sent for genome sequencing to get clarity on the causative strain of coronavirus.
As per media reports, the man hails from Noida's Sector 36 and is currently employed at a firm in Gurugram.
Covid-19 in India: Status quo
According to the data by the Union Health Ministry, India on Thursday recorded 358 fresh infections in the past 24 hours. The surge in cases is primarily caused by the JN.1 sub-variant of coronavirus which was first detected in Kerala on December 8. World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday declared it as the 'variant of concern'.
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Recent positive cases of Covid-19 are primarily reported from Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra.
According to NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr VK Paul, India so far has reported 21 cases of the new coronavirus variant JN.1 from across the country.
On Thursday, the death toll was recorded at 5,33,327 with three deaths reported from Kerala in 24 hours, as per data till 8 am on Thursday.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease increased to 4,44,70,576 and the national recovery rate was pegged at 98.81 percent, according to the health ministry's website.
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In light of the current situation, all states and Union Territories (UTs) have been advised to send samples of Covid positive cases to Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) labs to facilitate tracking of new variants.
