BENGALURU: Karnataka on Sunday crossed the 3,000-mark in the total number of Covid-19 cases, with the figure standing at 3,221 after a record 299 positive cases were added to the count in a single day. Also, two more persons died from the disease on Sunday, taking the death toll to 51.

This is by far the fastest 1,000 added — in just seven days. While the state took 68 days to reach the first 1,000 cases, it took just nine days to reach the 2,000-mark. With the state now crossing 3,000 cases in just a week from May 24, a worrisome trend of a much faster increase in the spread of the virus is now staring the state government in the face.

Taking this into consideration, the State Government’s latest Covid-19 contingency plan has projected that there could be as many as two lakh Covid-19 patients in Karnataka in this current pandemic. The earlier projection had pegged the estimate at a total of 87,196 cases in the state. The new projection is now being used to appropriately mobilise resources to manage the pandemic.

Of the state’s total of 3,221 cases, 52.34 per cent are those who have travelled into Karnataka from Maharashtra, a high Covid-19 prevalence state. At least 1,686 patients who have tested positive have come from Maharashtra.