NEW DELHI: India has logged 166 new cases of Covid, While the number of active cases of the infection has declined to 859, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

Two new deaths one each from Haryana and Maharashtra have been reported in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The number of daily cases had dropped to double-digits till December 5, 2023 but the cases had begun to increase after emergence of a new variant and cold weather conditions.

After December 5, a maximum of 841 new cases were reported on December 31, 2023 which is 0.2 per cent of the peak cases reported in May 2021, official sources said.

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

At its peak, 4,14,188 new 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 and over 5.3 lakh deaths recorded.