India reports 236 new COVID-19 cases, active tally at 2,031

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India has logged 236 new COVID-19 cases, while the number of active cases of the infection stood at 2,031, the health ministry said on Tuesday, reported news agency PTI.

Three new deaths -- one from Karnataka and two from West Bengal -- have been reported in a span of 24 hours, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am.

The number of daily cases had dropped to double-digits till December 5, 2023 but they again began to increase after emergence of a new variant and cold weather conditions.

A single day rise of 841 new COVID-19 cases were reported on December 31, 2023 which is 0.2 per cent of the peak cases reported in May 2021, official sources said, reported PTI.

Of the total active cases, a large majority of these (around 92 per cent) are recovering under home isolation.

"The currently available data suggests that the JN.1 variant is neither leading to an exponential rise in new cases nor a surge in hospitalisation and mortality," the sources stated, reported PTI.

India has witnessed three waves of COVID-19 in the past with the peak incidence of daily new cases and deaths being reported in the Delta wave during 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 got infected and over 5.3 lakh people have died across the country due to the infection.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease stands at over 4.4 crore with a national recovery rate of 98.81 per cent, according to the ministry's website.

According to the website, 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccines have so far been administered in the country.

On Monday, India reported a single-day rise of 203 Covid cases while the active caseload was recorded at 2,034. Two deaths -- one each in Kerala and Maharashtra -- were reported.

Meanwhile, JN.1, the latest Covid-19 variant from the lineage of Omicron making a fresh surge around the globe, represents 'very serious evolution' of Covid virus, according to global experts.

JN.1, classified as a variant of interest (VOI) by the World Health Organization (WHO) due to its rapid spread.

It was first detected in Luxembourg in August. The WHO expects JN.1 to increase the burden of respiratory infections in many countries.

The WHO has "just called JN.1 a VOI (variant of interest), and that just doesn't cut it, with the growth advantage this variant has demonstrated. It is just extraordinary", Dr. Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in California,US, was quoted as saying to Fortune.

JN.1 is a descendent lineage of BA.2.86, with the earliest sample collected on August 25, 2023. In comparison with BA.2.86, JN.1 has the additional L455S mutation in the spike protein, making it more transmissible.

(With inputs from PTI)