COVID cases rise by 52% globally last month: WHO

The coronavirus has once again begun to tighten its grip on the world. However, a slight decrease has been observed in the number of cases recently. In its latest update, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that there's been an 8% decrease in the number of deaths due to this virus in the past 28 days, totaling more than 3,000 new fatalities.

WHO mentioned a 52% increase in new COVID patients during the past four weeks. Amidst the rapid surge in cases of the 'JN.1' variant of the coronavirus, deemed as the 'Variant of Interest,' according to the global health body, it is associated with the B.2.86 lineage linked to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID).

Recently, cases of the 'JN.1' variant have emerged in several countries, and incidents of this variant are on the rise worldwide. Instances of this variant have been reported in countries like the United States, China, Singapore, and India. China has identified seven cases of this variant.

In India, there have been 752 new cases of COVID-19 and four deaths in the past 24 hours. The total number of treated patients has reached 3,420. These cases represent the highest number of reported coronavirus infections in a single day since May 21, 2023.

According to data updated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of COVID-19 cases reported in the country so far stands at 450.07 million (450,07,964). With four deaths in the last 24 hours, the toll due to this pandemic has risen to 533,332 in the country.