Karnataka on Sunday notched another grim milestone in its Covid march as the state reported 626 deaths, its highest-ever figure, and nearly 26,000 fresh cases.
The disclosure comes on a day India became the third country after the US and Brazil to log more than three lakh Covid-19 deaths. The total number of Covid-19 deaths in India stands at 3.03 lakh as against 5.89 lakh in the US and 4.48 lakh in Brazil.
Of the 626 fatalities, four deaths had happened in April but were reconciled to the state’s fatality database only now.
A large chunk of the fatalities revealed on Sunday had taken place earlier in the month.
A DH analysis of official data found that May has witnessed the highest death toll of the pandemic. As per the data, there have been 7,741 fatalities so far in May, out of which 3,303 deaths happened in Bengaluru Urban. This is significantly higher than the 4,829 deaths reported in April, out of which 3,215 deaths were in Bengaluru Urban.
Among the deaths revealed on Sunday was a 12-year-old girl, who died in Mysuru on May 22, and a 102-year-old man, who died at a private hospital in Bengaluru on May 4.
This the third centenarian fatality during the second wave.
Officials also revealed 25,979 new cases on Sunday, out of which only 7,494 cases were in Bengaluru Urban. This is the lowest such number recorded in the city in 44 days. Mysuru district was next with 2,222 cases followed by Hassan district (1,618), Ballari district (1,190) and Belagavi district
(1,066).
Testing numbers have seen an increase since May 18, with an average of 1.27 lakhs being conducted daily. The test positivity rate for the state on Sunday was 20.76%. Ideally, it should be below 5%.
The state also discharged 35,573 people on Sunday. With the number of discharges increasing, the active caseload is also declining and currently stands at 4.72 lakh cases.