Over the past 24 hours, 8,249 new Covid cases and 159 deaths have been reported in Karnataka and the number of active cases stands at 2,03,769.
The positivity rate in Karnataka had climbed to about 40 per cent during the second Covid wave. File
Bengaluru:
The Covid positivity rate in Karnataka, which had climbed to about 40 per cent last month when the state battled the deadly second wave of infections, dropped to below 5 per cent today.
Over the past 24 hours, 8,249 new Covid cases and 159 deaths have been reported in the state and the number of active cases currently stands at 2,03,769.
State Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar tweeted that the total number of recoveries in the state has crossed the 25-lakh mark with 14,975 people recovering over the last 24 hours.
“With 1,69,695 tests & 8,249 cases Karnataka’s positivity rate drops below 5% to 4.86%,” he tweeted.
?Total number of recoveries in Karnataka crosses 25 lakh with 14,975 recoveries in last 24 hours incl 4,769 in Bengaluru.
?With 1,69,695 tests & 8,249 cases Karnataka’s positivity rate drops below 5% to 4.86%
?With 62,515 tests & 1,154 cases Bengaluru’s TPR stands at 1.84%.
— Dr Sudhakar K (@mla_sudhakar) June 11, 2021
The minister added that state capital Bengaluru had recorded 1,154 cases over the past 24 hours and the positivity rate there stands at 1.84 per cent.
The new numbers will come as a relief for the residents of the state, where daily case counts had crossed the 50,000-mark last month when the second wave pushed up cases and deaths in several parts of the country.
The state government, however, is not taking chances. The lockdown restrictions in the state have been extended by a week, till June 21. The 11 districts, where the positivity rate is still high, continue to have stringent curbs in place.
For districts where the positivity rate has dropped below 15 per cent, the state government has given some relaxations.
The night curfew from 7 pm to 5 am continues to be in force across all districts. The weekend curfew also will continue.
Speaking to the media yesterday after the state government decided to extend the lockdown, Health Minister Dr Sudhakar had said the government would hold a meeting before June 21 to take stock of the Covid situation and accordingly decide on what curbs should continue.
He had said that while daily case count in capital Bengaluru had dropped, people should continue to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour to prevent another spike. “Without the cooperation of the citizens, it will be very difficult. Till the two doses of vaccines are given to all the people, the chances of (cases) spiking is like a hanging sword, so we need to be extremely careful,” he had said.