GUWAHATI: A new case of COVID-19 has been confirmed in Paomata in the Senapati district of Manipur, where a woman tested positive, reports stated.
Health Director Shasheekumar Mangang told media that the infected person's sample has been transported to Imphal and is scheduled to be sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for variant verification, specifically the JN.1 variant. The individual, who recently returned from Delhi, took a flight to Dimapur and then reached her village by bus from the Nagaland city, according to media reports.
Mangang, during a press briefing, highlighted that the state recorded a COVID-19 case on December 4, even after the government ceased daily COVID bulletin publications. He assured that adequate safety measures have been implemented at Imphal Airport and various locations to prevent a coronavirus outbreak, urging the public not to panic.
In national COVID-19 updates, India witnessed a single-day rise of 702 cases, bringing the total active cases to 4,097, as per the Health Ministry's recent statement. Six new fatalities were reported, with two from Maharashtra and one each from Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal, and Delhi.
The country, which recorded 752 new cases on December 22, experienced a surge in cases after the emergence of a new variant and the onset of cold weather conditions. While daily cases dropped to double-digits by December 5, the recent increase underscores ongoing challenges posed by the virus.
At the pandemic's peak since early 2020, India has seen over 4.5 crore infections and more than 5.3 lakh deaths in approximately four years. The national recovery rate stands at 98.81 per cent, with over 4.4 crore individuals recovering from the infection. According to the Health Ministry's website, the country has administered an estimate of 220 crore doses of COVID vaccines to date.
