The number of active COVID-19 cases in India has crossed 3,000, with Kerala, Maharashtra and Delhi being the worst-hit states in the latest wave.
According to the data available on the official website of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, there are 3,395 active Coronavirus cases in the country as of Saturday morning, a rise of about 1,200 per cent from last week. India had 257 active cases on May 22 and 1,010 by May 26.
The country reported 685 new coronavirus cases between Friday and Saturday, along with four deaths, the data showed.
Worst Covid-Hit States
Kerala, the worst-hit state in India, reported 189 new Covid cases on Friday, and has 1,336 active infections, according to the data.
It is followed by Maharashtra (467), Delhi (375), Gujarat (265), Karnataka (234), West Bengal (205), Tamil Nadu (185) and Uttar Pradesh (117).
Rajasthan (60), Puducherry (41), Haryana (26), Andhra Pradesh (17) and Madhya Pradesh (16) are other states that are seeing an uptick in Covid cases.
The data also showed that India has reported 26 deaths this year.
What's Driving Covid Surge In India
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said the genome sequencing of samples in the west and south has shown that the new variants are sub-variants of Omicron, a strain that was behind the big Covid wave in India in 2022.
These are LF.7, XFG, JN.1 and NB.1.8.1, ICMR chief Dr Rajiv Behl said on Monday.
The first three are more prevalent, Dr Behl said.
He also confirmed that there has been a rise in COVID-19 cases - first from the south, then west and now from northern India.
All these cases are being monitored through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), Dr Behl said.
"Nothing To Worry About"
Dr Behl said the severity of infections as of now is generally mild, and that there is no cause for worry.
"Whenever cases increase, we look at three things. It's dependent on three factors, with the first being how transmissible it is, conversely how fast the cases are increasing. Previously, we saw COVID-19 cases double in two days, but this time it is not that cases are increasing rapidly," he was quoted as saying by the news agency PTI.
"Secondly, are the new variants evading our previous immunity? When new variants come, they evade immunity -- be it natural or from the vaccine. But there's nothing to worry about at the moment," Dr Bhel said.
He also said that the third factor is the percentage of severe cases in all Covid instances.
"Are we getting a very severe disease without comorbidities? As of now, the severity is generally low. There's nothing to worry about. We should be vigilant and we should always be prepared," he added.
What WHO Said On Covid Surge
The World Health Organisation (WHO) last month classified the LF.7 and NB.1.8.1 subvariants as "Variants Under Monitoring".
"Despite a concurrent increase in cases and hospitalisations in some countries where NB.1.8.1 is widespread, current data do not indicate that this variant leads to more severe illness than other variants in circulation," the WHO said on May 23.
Currently approved Covid vaccines are expected to "remain effective to this variant against symptomatic and severe disease," the UN health body said.
