Karnataka continued to report a surge in COVID-19 cases after the state recorded 10,250 COVID-19 cases on Sunday including 7,584 cases in Bengaluru. The cases reported on Saturday were 6,955 in the state and 4,384 in Bengaluru, the state capital. The jump in cases was linked to the increased testing numbers in the state going up from 98,000 to 1.32 lakh on Sunday. The positivity rate also increased from 7.04% on Saturday to 7.72% on Sunday. Positivity rate is the percentage of people who test positive for the virus of the overall number of people tested.
On Friday, Bengaluru had reported 5,576 COVID-19 cases, the highest in a single day during the pandemic until then. On Sunday, the city reported over 2,000 more cases. The total active cases in the city is now 51,236.
Hospitals in Bengaluru are reporting an increased number of COVID-19 cases. A 31-year-old man who had tested positive for the virus died early on Saturday morning reportedly when he was searching for an intensive care unit (ICU) bed. Twenty seven deaths were reported in Bengaluru on Sunday taking the total number of deaths to 4,815.
Elsewhere in the state, Kalaburagi reported 291 cases, Bidar 290, Mysuru 277, Hassan 170, Tumakuru 150, Dharwad 150, and Dakshina Kannada 133.
The surge in cases comes at a time the Karnataka government has ordered a night curfew in eight cities - Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru, Kalaburagi, Bidar, Tumakuru, Udupi, Manipal - from 10 pm to 5 am between April 10 and April 20.
The technical advisory committee advising the Karnataka government on Sunday said that the second wave of COVID-19 infections is expected to peak in the first week of May in the state and reduce by the end of May. This marks a shift in the predicted timeline. Health Minister K Sudhakar had earlier predicted that the state will see 6,500 cases everyday around April 20.