Covid-19 in India: Active cases rise to 4,866; Kerala reports biggest surge

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The active Covid-19 cases have increased to 4,866 in India and 7 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours (as of 8 am, Thursday), according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

2 fatalities were reported in Delhi and Karnataka each while 3 were reported in Maharashtra. Kerala reported 114 cases on Wednesday, highest in the country followed by Karnataka, West Bengal and Delhi with 112, 106 and 105 cases respectively.

Meanwhile, the Centre will conduct nationwide Covid mock drill today, according to CNN-News 18 report. The Union Ministry of Health will check the readiness of hospitals across states and the officials will check the arrangements regarding oxygen supply, status of essential medicines and evaluate availability of ventilators across major hospitals in the country.

The drill will evaluate the level of preparedness by the hospitals in case the country sees new wave of coronavirus infections.

The latest wave is being attributed to the highly transmissible NB.1.8.1 sub-variant, a descendant of the Omicron lineage.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has confirmed that although the new strain spreads rapidly and is highly mutable, it continues to cause mild illness. Common symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, fatigue, headache, body aches, runny nose, and loss of appetite - similar to seasonal flu.