Bengaluru : The total number of COVID-19 cases in Karnataka surged to 1,939 after 196 new cases have been confirmed in the last 24 hours, out of which 598 have so far recovered and have been discharged, while 42 people have died, State Health Department said on Saturday. With this, there are 1,297 active coronavirus cases in the state.

“196 new positive cases have been reported from last evening to this noon….Till date 1939 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed. This includes 42 deaths and 598 discharges,” the state government said in its mid-day situation update.

It said 172 out of the new cases reported were returnees from neighbouring Maharashtra.

The others include two from Gujarat, one each from Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, 15, who are contacts of patients who have already tested positive and three with Influenza like illness (ILI).

A 32-year-old man from Bengaluru Urban became the 42nd COVID-19 related fatality in the state.

He was admitted to a designated hospital on May 19 with complaints of breathing difficulty and comorbid conditions, the bulletin said, adding that he died today due to cardiac arrest.

Another patient died due to non-COVID reasons, taking the number of such deaths to two, it added.

Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Yadgir accounted for the highest of 72, followed by Raichur 39, Mandya 28 and Gadag-15.

Coronavirus cases in India have crossed 1.2 lakh mark taking positive patients toll to 1,25,101 including 3,720 deaths and 51,784 have recovered, according to health ministry’s figures released on Saturday. Between Friday and Saturday, the country saw highest ever spike of 6,654 cases in the last 24 hours.

The Union Health Ministry has said the Covid-19 fatality rate has dropped from 3.13 per cent to 3.02 per cent, and the authorities involved in tackling the viral infection are concentrating on containment measures and clinical management of cases.