Maharashtra logs 28 COVID-19 cases; active tally 153

Mumbai: Maharashtra on Monday reported 28 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the number of active cases in the state to 153, as per a health department bulletin.

The state has so far reported nine cases of JN.1 sub-variant. No such case was reported on Monday. With the latest additions, the overall COVID-19 tally since the beginning of the pandemic has risen to 81,72,163 in Maharashtra, as per the state health department.

“There are 153 active cases of COVID-19 infection in the state. Of them, 142 patients are in home isolation while 11 others are admitted to various hospitals. Of these 11 patients, two are in ICUs while others are kept under observation but not in the ICU,” the bulletin said.

Maharashtra has so far tested 8,75,66,255 samples for COVID-19 over the last three years, of which 81,72,163 returned positive. With a discharge of 13 persons, the total number of COVID-19 recoveries rose to 80,23,431, as per the bulletin. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged countries in South-East Asia to strengthen surveillance in view of the increasing cases of respiratory diseases, including due to COVID-19 and its new sub-variant JN.1, and influenza.

The WHO also urged people to take protective measures.

Experts had said there was no cause for concern even though JN.1 sub-variant has been detected in the country and there is an uptick in COVID-19 infections.