India records 159 new Covid-19 infections, active case tally 1,623

India has registered a single-day rise of 159 new COVID-19 infections and the count of active cases of the disease stands at 1,623 in the country, the Union health ministry said on Saturday.

One fatality due to the infection was reported in Kerala in a span of 24 hours, according to the data updated by the ministry at 8 am.

The number of daily cases of COVID-19 in the country had dropped to double-digits by December 5, but it began to climb after the emergence of a new variant and the cold weather conditions.

After December 5, the highest single-day rise of 841 new cases was reported on December 31.

Of the total active cases, around 92 per cent are recovering under home isolation.

"The currently available data suggests that the JN.1 variant is neither leading to an exponential rise in the new cases nor a surge in the hospitalisation and mortality," an official source said.

India has witnessed three waves of COVID-19 in the past with the peak incidence of daily new cases and deaths being reported in the delta wave during April-June 2021.

At its peak, 4,14,188 cases and 3,915 deaths were reported on May 7, 2021.

Since the pandemic began in early 2020, more than 4.5 crore people have been infected by the disease and over 5.3 lakh deaths recorded.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease stands at over 4.4 crore with a national recovery rate of 98.81 per cent, according to the ministry's website.

The ministry said 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccines have so far been administered in the country.