The Karnataka health department Wednesday confirmed the first case of the South African COVID-19 strain in the state. The department, however, did not share further details regarding the case.

A total of 29 people have tested positive for the UK strain in Karnataka so far, according to the health department bulletin.

Karnataka reports 760 new cases, 6 deaths

Karnataka Wednesday reported 760 new cases of COVID-19 and six related fatalities, taking the total number of infections to 9,56,801 and the death toll to 12,379

According to the health department, the day also saw 331 patients getting discharged after recovery, pushing the cumulative tally to 9,36,947.

Bengaluru Urban accounted for 488 fresh cases. According to a department bulletin, out of 7,456 active cases, 7,341 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and stable, while 115 are in ICU.

Five deaths were reported from Bengaluru Urban and one from Dakshina Kannada. Kalaburagi logged 37 fresh cases today, Tuamkuru 36, Udupi 33, Dakshina Kannada and Dharwad 25, followed by others.

Bengaluru Urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 4,09,163, followed by Mysuru 54,287 and Ballari 39,349.

Among discharges too, Bengaluru Urban tops the list with 3,99,124, followed by Mysuru 53,098 and Ballari 38,671.

A total of over 1,94,98,106 samples have been tested so far, out of which 70,133 were tested on Wednesday. A total of 4,803 among them were rapid antigen tests.

Measures to restrict large gatherings at marriage and other functions: Health minister

Karnataka health minister Dr K Sudhakar Wednesday said while guidelines had already been issued to restrict large public gatherings at marriage and other functions, there were no restrictions on inter-state travel.

“Instructions have been passed to hotels and marriage halls to take necessary steps to contain the infection. Precautionary guidelines have been issued in this regard. We have banned late-night parties because more people gather at that time. As there is a spike in cases in neighbouring states, we have taken all the steps to restrain the spread here,” said the minister.

“Vaccination is being provided at 3,500 centres across the state, we have also increased the number of tests,” he added.