Covid cases continue to rise in Karnataka, tally 789

The spike in Covid cases continued in Karnataka with 36 new positive cases in the past 19 hours, raising the state's tally to 789, an official said on Saturday.

"Till date, 789 Covid positive cases have been confirmed. This includes 30 deaths and 379 discharges," said a health official.

Except three cases from Chitradurga with a travel history to Ahmedabad in Gujarat, all other cases are contacts of earlier cases.

On Friday also, three Chitradurga cases with a similar travel history surfaced. Friday's cases were all aged 64 while Saturday's cases were below 35, all men.

Of the 36 new cases, Bengaluru Urban accounted for 12, Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada, 7, Davangere, 6, Bidar, Chitradurga and Bantawal in Dakshina Kannada, 3 each, Tumkuru and Vijayapura, 1 each.

Five of Davangere's six cases were contacts of positive case 651. Similarly, five of Bengaluru Urban's 12 cases were contacts of case 419.

With the addition of the new cases, the total positive cases in Bengaluru have risen to 175, Davangere, 67, Uttara Kannada 31, Dakshina Kannada 25 and Vijayapur, 49.

Among the new cases, 19 are men and 17 women, including 10 below 20. A 2-year-old girl and a 1-year-old boy also tested positive among the new cases. The state registered the highest positives on Friday, 48.