The total number of COVID-19 cases in the State crossed the 3 lakh mark and deaths owing to the pandemic crossed 5,000 on Wednesday.
According to the media bulletin issued by the Department of Health and Family Welfare, 8,580 COVID-19 cases were reported on Wednesday. With this, the total number of positive cases in the State stands at 3,00,406. Meanwhile, with 133 COVID-19 deaths reported on Wednesday, taking the total fatalities to 5,091. So far, as many as 19 infected people have died owing to non-COVID-19 causes.
While it took four-and-a-half months for the first one lakh cases to be reported — from March 8 to July 27, the cases increased from 1 lakh to 2 lakh in just 17 days. It has taken 13 days for the number of cases to increase from 2 lakh to 3 lakh. Experts attribute the rise in the number of cases to the increased testing. On Tuesday, the number of tests conducted in the State crossed the 25 lakh mark.
On Wednesday, as many as 7,249 patients were discharged, taking the total to 2.11 lakh. The recovery rate in the State is 70.46%. Out of the total 83,606 active cases in the State, 760 patients are admitted in intensive care units of different hospitals. As many as 3,284 new COVID-19 cases and 31 new deaths were reported in Bengaluru Urban on Wednesday.
Shalini Rajaneesh, nodal officer in charge of testing, said the State conducted a record 67,066 tests on Wednesday. While 25,886 were rapid antigen tests, the remaining were RTPCR and other tests.
Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar said that although the numbers of cases are increasing, the number of recoveries was on the rise and the mortality rate was coming down. “We need to test more and ensure that the number of deaths remains low,” he said. Dr. Sudhakar also said that according to experts, the number of cases would decline from the second week of October.
