India's active COVID-19 cases cross 6,000; Kerala remains most affected

India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) reported that the number of active COVID-19 cases in the country rose to 6,133 on Sunday.

- Ashraf Padanna

In the past 24 hours, the country has recorded six new deaths related to COVID-19 — two in Karnataka, three in Kerala, and one in Tamil Nadu.

Kerala remains the most significantly impacted state, with active cases surging to 1,950 after 144 new infections were reported over the last day.

This rise highlights the ongoing challenges faced by public health authorities in the state that reported India's first case of COVID-19 on Jan.30, 2020.

Upon arriving in Kochi, the medical student who returned from the Chinese epicentre of Wuhan tested positive for the virus. She survived the attack.

Kerala stopped publishing the daily coronavirus infection data on April 10, 2022, saying the pandemic was under control and relaxed the mask rule.

The new surge in cases in India is primarily attributed to new Omicron sub-variants, including JN.I, NB.I.8.1, LF.7, and XFC. These variants have demonstrated increased transmissibility while typically causing mild symptoms.