India had 1,010 active Covid-19 cases on Monday, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said. This was a significant increase from 257 active cases on May 19.

On Monday, Kerala reported the highest number of active Covid-19 cases in the country at 430, marking an increase of 335 since May 19. Maharashtra recorded the second-highest number of active cases at 210 – up by 154 since May 19 – followed by Delhi with 104 active cases, a rise of 99 since that date.

The Union health ministry has confirmed the presence of two Covid-19 variants, NB.1.8.1 and LF.7, in India, The Hindu reported. One case of NB.1.8.1 was identified in Tamil Nadu in April, while four instances of LF.7 were detected in May.

Both variants have been classified by the World Health Organization as “variants under monitoring” and are not currently listed as “variants of concern” or “variants of interest”. These strains have been linked to a recent spike in Covid-19 cases across China and several other Asian countries, the newspaper said.

After a meeting last week, the health ministry said that most of these cases were mild and the patients were under home care, according to The Hindu.

“There is no indication that the circulating variants are more transmissible or cause more severe disease compared to the previously circulating variants,” the ministry had added.