India reports 1,009 active COVID-19 cases; Delhi logs 104
What's the story
India has 1,009 active COVID-19 cases as of Monday morning, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.
Kerala has the highest number of cases at 430, followed by Maharashtra (209) and Delhi (104).
In Karnataka, 47 active cases were reported.
The total number of deaths stands at seven.
Of this, an 85-year-old man in Whitefield succumbed to multiple organ failure after testing positive for the virus on Saturday.
State update
Maharashtra reports 43 new COVID-19 cases
Doctors, however, have assured that the variants NB.1.8.1 and NB.7, attributed to the rise in cases, are under observation and that there is no reason to panic.
The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies LF.7 and NB.1.8 subvariants as "variants under monitoring" and not "variants of concern" or "variants of interest."
"Considering the available evidence, the additional public health risk posed by NB.1.8.1 is evaluated as low at the global level," it said.
Fatalities and advice
Experts advise caution
At the same time, experts have advised citizens to be alert for symptoms such as the common cold, nasal congestion, headaches, muscular cramps, nausea and fevers.
They recommend testing if symptoms persist over 3-4 days with an RT-PCR test being 99% accurate, while home rapid antigen tests can be used for faster diagnosis.