Bengaluru, May 24 (IANS): With 97 new cases, Karnataka's Covid-19 tally crossed the 2,000-mark, while 26 were discharged from hospitals taking the number of cured persons to 634, said an official, here on Sunday.

"The total number of Covid-19 cases across the state is 2,056, with 97 more testing positive during the past 18 hours," said a state health official.

The number of active cases in the state is 1,378 and Covid-19 deaths 42, including 2 for non-Covid reasons.

Of the 26 discharged, 18 are in Davanagere, 4 in Chitradurga, 3 in Bagalkote and one in Haveri across the southern state.

Of the new cases, 41 are women and 19 children below 20 years.

"68 of the 97 new cases are returnees from Maharashtra, the worst affected Covid-hit state in the country with 47,190 cases till Saturday," said the official.

Of the 30 Karnataka districts, Chikkaballapura recorded the highest cases at 24, followed by Udupi (18), Hassan (15) and Kalaburagi, Yadigiri and Mandya (6 each).

Chikkaballapura, about 70 km northeast of Bengaluru, is the home district of Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar, a doctor by profession, who is spearheading the fight against the pandemic.

On Saturday, the state's tally shot up to 1,959 due to 196 new cases, the highest single-day rise, with 195 of them crossing over from Maharashtra through the inter-state border, which has been opened up as part of partial relaxation of the extended lockdown.