India crosses 1,000 active Covid-19 cases, Kerala tops with 430 infections

The country clocked 752 new Covid-19 infections between May 19 and 26, seven deaths reported during the period

The number of active cases of Covid-19 soared past 1,000 on Monday, a figure last breached during December 2023-January 2024 period when India was in the grip of JN.1 the variant. 

The country registered 752 new cases in the week between May 19 and May 26, taking the total number of active cases to 1,009, according to data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. India reported seven deaths in this period — four in Maharashtra, two in Kerala and one in Karnataka. 

Among states, Kerala has the highest caseload at 430, a rise of 335 cases over the past week. It was followed by Maharashtra at 209 cases, of which 153 were reported in the past seven days. 

 

This week, Delhi became the third state to cross 100 active Covid-19 cases, with the national capital reporting an increase of 99 cases since May 19. 

Gujarat (87 active cases) and Karnataka (47 active cases) also saw an increase of 76 and 34 cases respectively in the last week. 

To counter this surge, several states and UTs have come out with advisories asking both government and private hospitals to ensure preparedness in terms of beds, oxygen, antibiotics and other drugs.    

State governments have also asked hospitals for daily reporting of Influenza-like illnesses (ILIs) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illnesses (SARI) to the Centre’s Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) Central health authorities also swung into action last week, holding several review meetings to assess the situation in the country, according to official sources in the health ministry. 

On the recent rise, Rajiv Bahl, Director General (DG) at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that cases have been rising in the southern and western parts of India, and now a surge is being seen in the northern region. 

“We are monitoring the situation through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP), which tracks cases nationwide,” he added. 

The review meeting, led by the Union Health Secretary and the Director General (DG) of the Indian Council of Medical Research last week found that most of the cases in India are mild and under home care, sources added. 

Experts believe the SARS-CoV-2 variants currently circulating in Singapore are LF.7 and NB.1.8 — both descendants of the JN.1 variant of Omicron, which was also behind a rise in infections in India early last year. 

According to data from the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (Insacog), India has already registered four cases of the LF.7 variant from Gujarat and one case of N.1.8.1 sub variant from Tamil Nadu this month. 

The review comes amid a noticeable uptick in Covid cases in Hong Kong and Singapore in recent weeks. 

According to reports, Hong Kong had reported an increase in respiratory samples testing positive for Covid— from 6.21 per cent in early April 2025 to 13.66 per cent in the week ending May 10.