Covid-19 LIVE: India Logs 743 Fresh Cases, 7 Deaths
Covid-19 News Live: Please follow this space for the latest updates on the rise of COVID-19 cases and related developments in the country.

Background
Covid News LIVE: Please follow this space for all the latest updates pertaining to Covid-19 cases in India.
Covid-19 cases have seen a recent surge in the country, with infections being reported from various states since the emergence of the Omicron sub-variant JN.1. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified JN.1 as a distinct "variant of interest (VoI)," a shift from its previous designation under the A.2.86 sub-lineages.
Amid the uptick in cases, Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj visited the LNJP Hospital on Thursday to take stock of its preparedness for Covid-19 and asserted that the facility is fully geared to deal with any exigencies.
"Following the oxygen shortage that was seen during the Covid wave in Delhi and across the country, the hospital now has piped oxygen supply through a centralised system," he said.
Asked if the Delhi government is planning to reserve any beds for Covid patients, the minister said only four people are currently hospitalised with the infection in the city.
Meanwhile, a total of 157 cases of Covid-19 sub-variant JN.1 have been detected in the country, with Kerala reporting the highest number of 78, followed by Gujarat at 34, according to the INSACOG's data updated on Thursday.
Nine states and Union territories have so far detected the presence of the JN.1 sub-variant of the virus.
These states are -- Kerala (78), Gujarat (34), Goa (18), Karnataka (eight), Maharashtra (seven), Rajasthan (five), Tamil Nadu (four), Telangana (two) and Delhi (one), according to the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG). The INSACOG's data showed 141 Covid cases recorded in the country in December had the presence of JN.1, while 16 such cases were detected in November.
India saw a single day rise of 702 cases, with the number of active cases rising to 4,097, the health ministry said on Thursday. Six new fatalities -- two from Maharashtra and one each from Karanataka, Kerala, West Bengal, and Delhi -- were reported in a span of 24 hours.
Karnataka Logs 201 Fresh Covid-19 Cases And 1 Death
Karnataka on Saturday reported 201 fresh cases of Covid-19 and one new coronavirus-related death in the past 24 hours. This takes the total number of active cases in the state to 833, a health department bulletin said. The total number of Covid-19 related deaths in the state after the recent spike has touched more than 10.
Odisha Asks Medical Colleges, CDMOs To Step Up Surveillance, Testing
With Odisha reporting 14 new COVID-19 cases this month, the state government has asked all government-run medical colleges and chief district medical officers to increase surveillance, testing and preparedness for potential surge of the virus, PTI reported.
























