With 6,805 new cases recorded on Thursday — the highest single-day increase so far — the total number of positive cases in the State touched 1,58,254. The number of cases had crossed the one-lakh mark on July 27.

The toll touched 2,897, with 93 new deaths. This is apart from eight non-COVID-19 deaths. Of the 75,068 active cases, 671 are being monitored in the ICU.

Bengaluru Urban reported 2,544 cases on Thursday, taking the total caseload to 67,425. Fifteen of the 93 deaths were reported from there, taking the toll to 1,178.

Meanwhile, the number of recoveries continued to outnumber active cases for the second straight day. With 5,602 people discharged on Thursday, the total recoveries touched 80,281, as against 75,068 active cases. Karnataka has been recording more than 4,500 recoveries per day since Monday.

Increased testing

The State conducted 48,421 tests in the last 24-hour period, including 27,930 rapid antigen tests. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad said the civic body was planning to increase testing to 10 times the daily reported cases. “As of now, we are conducting nearly 16,000 tests daily in Bengaluru,” he said.

Hospitals with more than 100 beds have so far handed over 3,000 beds to the government. “After we started initiating stringent action against private hospitals, instances of patients being refused beds and treatment came down considerably,” he said. Of the 4,726 beds available in the 11 COVID Care Centres run by the BBMP, 1,300 beds were available as on Thursday.