India Reports 756 New COVID-19 Cases, Five Deaths in Past 24 Hours

According to Health Ministry data on Sunday, January 7, India recorded 756 new cases of COVID-19, with the number of active cases standing at 4,049. In the last 24 hours, five deaths were reported—two each from Kerala and Maharashtra and one from Jammu and Kashmir—according to the ministry's data updated at 8 AM today.

Daily coronavirus cases had dropped to double digits until December 5, 2023, but began to increase again due to the emergence of a new JN.1 variant and cold weather conditions in parts of the country. After December 5, the maximum increase in single-day cases was reported on December 31, 2023, when 841 cases were reported, official sources said to news agency PTI. Mumbai Records First COVID-19 Death of the Year.

"The currently available data suggests that the JN.1 variant is neither leading to an exponential rise in new cases nor a surge in hospitalization and mortality," the sources told PTI. India has witnessed three waves of COVID-19 in the past, with the peak incidence of daily new cases and deaths reported during the Delta wave in April-June 2021. At its peak, 4,14,188 new cases and 3,915 deaths were reported on May 7, 2021.

Since the pandemic began in early 2020, more than 4.5 crore people have been infected, and over 5.3 lakh have died. According to the ministry, 220.67 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country.