On the last day of Lockdown 4.0, Karnataka reported 299 coronavirus cases, the highest single-day rise recorded in the state yet.
The cases reported on Sunday saw the total number of cases in the state soar over the 3,000-mark. The state has now reported 3,221 cases since the first case was reported on March 8.
Of the new cases on Sunday, 252 of the patients had returned from Maharashtra, while seven are foreign returnees. Meanwhile, the contacts of 19 patients, including 10 from Bengaluru Urban district, are still being traced.
The spike in cases was reported even as the Karnataka government issued orders for phase-wise relaxation of the lockdown in the state along the lines of the guidelines issued by the Union government.
After 33 cases were reported on Saturday, 21 more COVID-19 cases were reported from Bengaluru Urban district on Sunday. This includes four more patients connected to the cases that emerged in a slum in DG Halli in the city, where a 38-year-old woman with a history of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) tested positive on May 25.
The area in DG Halli, where she stays, has been declared a containment zone by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
A rise in COVID-19 cases was reported in the Kalyana Karnataka region in the north-eastern part of the state.
On Sunday, 83 cases were reported in Raichur district, which until May 18 had not recorded any COVID-19 case. Of this, 82 are returnees from Maharashtra while one had returned to the district from Bengaluru. This takes the number of cases reported in Raichur to 217.
Forty-four new cases were reported in Yadgir district, a stark contrast from two weeks ago when only two positive cases were reported in the district. As on Sunday, the north Karnataka district has recorded 285 COVID-19 cases.
Thirty-three new cases were reported in Bidar district while Kalaburagi and Vijayapura districts recorded 28 and 26 new cases respectively.
The cases in coastal Karnataka also increased on Sunday with 14 cases reported in Dakshina Kannada, 10 cases in Udupi and five cases in Uttara Kannada. The cases in the coastal region of the state, too, had increased in tandem with the return of people residing in other states, over the last two weeks.
Thirteen cases each were reported in Mandya and Belagavi while six cases were also reported in Davangere and one each in Ballari, Shivamogga and Kolar.
The six new cases reported on Sunday from Davangere include three healthcare workers who worked at a COVID-19 isolation ward.
Two deaths were reported in the state on Sunday, taking the total death to 51. This includes a 50-year-old man from Raichur district, who had returned from Maharashtra on May 21. He was diagnosed with SARI, severe pneumonia, sepsis and respiratory failure. A 75-year-old man from Bidar district, too, succumbed after developing fever, breathlessness and hypertension. He was a resident of a containment zone in Bidar and was admitted to a private hospital on 18 May. He died at his residence on May 29 before his test result returned positive on Sunday.
Two days ago, the state reported 248 new cases, a majority of which were people who returned from Maharashtra. The active cases in the state is now 1,950 while 1,218 people have made a full recovery after being infected by the virus.