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New Delhi: Covid is on the rise in India, with over 1,000 active cases registered in the current spell, the health ministry’s covid-19 dashboard showed on Monday. Of these, 752 have been confirmed as positive recently. Kerala is reporting the highest number of active cases at 430, followed by Maharashtra with 209, Delhi (104), Gujarat (83), Tamil Nadu (69), Karnataka (47), Uttar Pradesh (15), Rajasthan (13), West Bengal (10) and Madhya Pradesh (2). Some of this is the outcome of better testing. A total of seven covid-related deaths have been recorded since 19 May—four in Maharashtra, two in Kerala and one Karnataka. However, official confirmation from the health ministry is awaited. Increased testing follows a sudden spurt of cases in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and other Asian countries, due to the two new variants of coronavirus—NB.1.8.1 and LF.7—arising from the JN.1 variant prevalent since 2023.According to the INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics or Indian SARS-CoV-2), India has reported one case of the newly emerging covid-19 variant NB.1.8.1 and four of LF.7 originating from the JN.1 variant. The World Health Organization (WHO) says both these strains are ‘Variants Under Monitoring’ and not ‘Variants of Concern’ or ‘Variants of Interest.’Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Dr Rajiv Bahl said the current spike is being monitored through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP). Bahl said the government is keeping a close watch on the transmission, number of cases, and severity of cases. “So far, the severity remains low. There’s no cause for panic. The government is vigilant and well prepared to tackle this.”On Saturday, health secretary Punya Salila Srivastava reviewed the matter with senior government officials and health agencies like ICMR, Director General of Health Services (DGHS) and National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). It was highlighted during the meeting that most of these cases are mild and under home care.Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, public health expert, warned, “People are recovering quickly but one should not do self-medication and should refrain from using antibiotics.” On Sunday, Mint reported that diagnostic chains Aglius Diagnostics (formerly SRL), Lal Path labs, Dr Dang and Redcliffe Labs have seen a significant increase in covid-19 testing since the beginning of May 2025.
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