India Registers 1,701 New COVID Cases; 5 Deaths

India on Sunday reported five deaths due to COVID-19 out of which four fatalities were reported in Kerala, India Today reported citing the Union Health Ministry data.

The country registered 335 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the active cases in the country to 1,701. While four deaths were recorded in Kerala, one person died in Uttar Pradesh, the report adds.

However, over 90 per cent of the COVID-19 cases in India at present are mild and they are in home isolation, the PTI reported citing sources.

The country has recorded 4.50 crore (4,50,04,816) Covid-19 cases since India reported its first case in 2020. A total of 4.46 crore (4,44,69,799) people have recovered from the infection with the national recovery rate reported at 98.81 per cent, as per the Health Ministry. The Covid-19-related death toll has reached 5,33,316, resulting in a case fatality rate of 1.19 per cent.

Meanwhile, a case of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 was detected in Kerala on December 8. The sample from a 79-year-old woman had returned a positive result in an RT-PCR test on November 18, they said, adding that she had mild symptoms of influenza-like illness (ILI) and had recovered from COVID-19, according to a report in PTI.

Earlier, an Indian traveller was also detected with JN.1 sub-variant in Singapore. The person was a native of Tamil Nadu's Tiruchirapalli district and had travelled to Singapore on October 25.

However, Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Sunday said the COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 that has been detected in the state was not a cause for concern. Speaking to the media about the new variant, George said this was detected months ago in Indian passengers who were screened at Singapore Airport.

"There is no need for any concern. It's a sub-variant. It was just found here. Months ago, this variant was detected in a few Indians who were screened at the Singapore Airport. It's just that Kerala has identified the variant here through genome sequencing. There is no need to worry. The situation is being closely monitored," she said.