With 73 deaths in Karnataka on Monday, the fourth day with over 70 deaths, the State toll stood at 757. New cases stood at 2,738 and the overall tally touched 41,581.

Along with Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh watched with concern as it recorded 37 new coronavirus deaths and 1,935 new infections.

Kerala was trying to stem the intense transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19) along the coastal belt, which was making its way inland, through special action plans for the coastal zone, while intensifying surveillance and testing.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here on Monday that local transmission had resulted in 51 clusters, including two large community clusters. As more cases sprang up in the community, patients might report late to hospital and risk of infection among the elderly and those with co-morbidities could push up mortality.

Mr. Vijayan said the containment model so far had been effective and had won international accolades. He acknowledged that the increase in case burden and the potential of many vulnerable people requiring ICU and ventilator support could overwhelm the health system.

On Monday, the cumulative case burden in the State was 8,322, with the reporting of 449 fresh cases. Total recoveries were 4,259.

Local transmission again exceeded imported cases. Of the 449 new cases, only 204 were imported while the rest were from the community. In 18 cases, the source of infection was unknown. The local transmission included a huge cluster of 77 cases from the ITBP camp at Alappuzha, five health-care workers, 10 Defence Security Corps jawans, four personnel of Fire and Rescue Services, one BSF jawan, and three Kerala Solvent Extraction Ltd staff.

There were 4,028 active cases. With two more deaths reported from Kollam and Kannur, the toll was 33.

The number of samples tested in a day was 12,230.

The overall death toll in Andhra Pradesh mounted to 365 and tally touched 31,103, the Health Department said.

With the discharge of 1,052 patients, the number of recoveries was at 16,464 and there were 14,274 active patients.

Six deaths occurred in Anantapur and four each in East Godavari, Kurnool and West Godavari districts. Three deaths each occurred in Chittoor, Guntur, Krishna and Prakasam districts. Kadapa and Nellore reported two new deaths each while Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram reported at one death each.

Bengaluru Urban reported 1,315 cases and 47 deaths on Monday. Total cases here touched 19,702.

Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar, said rapid antigen testing had begun in Bengaluru, and data would be made available on Tuesday.

(With inputs from Vijayawada and Bengaluru bureaus)