Once again, cases of COVID-19 are increasing rapidly in India. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Monday that a total of 1,009 active COVID-19 cases have been reported in India, of which 752 new cases were confirmed recently. Of these, the highest number of 430 cases have been reported in Kerala.
According to the data of the Ministry of Health, Kerala is currently at the top of the chart with the highest number of 430 active cases. At the same time, Maharashtra is at number 2, where so far 209 corona cases have been reported. Similarly, there are 104 cases in Delhi, 83 in Gujarat and 47 in Karnataka.
One patient dies
A 21-year-old youth has died due to the new variant of COVID, JN.1. The 21-year-old youth from Mumbra was admitted to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Kalwa Hospital in Thane for treatment on May 22, 2025, where he died during treatment.
Latest variants are developing like viral fever bearing symptom
Meanwhile, Delhi Health Minister Pankaj Jain said that the latest variants are slowly developing like viral fever bearing symptoms of common cold and cough. He sought to allay concerns amid a steep rise in the number of cases in recent days, saying there was no need to panic.
2 new variants detected
Amid an apparent rise in new Covid-19 infections across several cities, the country has detected cases of two new sub-variants - NB.1.8.1 and LF.7 - according to fresh data from the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (Insacog), a central government agency.
Both NB.1.8.1 and LF.7 are sub-lineages of the JN.1 variant, which remains the most dominant strain in India, accounting for 53% of all sequenced samples.
These sub-variants are being monitored by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as 'Variants Under Monitoring,' meaning they have mutations that could influence virus behaviour, but they are not yet classified as 'Variants of Concern' or 'Variants of Interest.'
Studies in initial stages and expert assessments suggest that these sub-variants are more transmissible and have a greater ability to evade immune defences compared to earlier strains.
Health Ministry on alert
The Health Ministry is on alert due to the ever-increasing number of Covid cases. On Saturday, Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava reviewed the matter with regard to the Covid-19 cases reported in several states, mainly Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, etc. It has been observed that most of these cases are mild and are under home care.
Prakash Kumar Pandey