Bengaluru, Jul 13 (IANS): Karnataka's Covid recovery rate is lesser than the national average, below 40 per cent, though it boasts of a lower fatality rate than the national average, a minister said on Monday.

The southern state's recovery rate is 39.67 per cent, compared to the national recovery rate of 62.92 per cent, said Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar.

Karnataka is currently grappling with 38,843 cases, out of which 22,746 are active.

However, it is heartening to know that the state's fatality rate is lower than the national average.

"State's fatality rate stands at 1.76 per cent," said Sudhakar.

The minister said India's death rate currently stands at 2.66 per cent, higher than Karnataka's death rate.

Karnataka has seen a total of 684 Covid deaths, lesser than several other states across the country.

Incidentally, the minister pointed out that India's death rate is lesser than many other major Covid suffering countries such as USA, Brazil, Spain, Italy, the UK and others.

Similarly, until Sunday, Bengaluru has witnessed a Covid recovery rate of 22 per cent, lesser than the state average, indicating the virus' intensity in the city.

Bengaluru continues to be the ground zero of coronavirus in the southern state with 1,525 cases on Sunday, raising its total number of cases to 18,387.

Though the city accounts for the highest number of infections and deaths, its death rate is lower than the state average at 1.37 per cent, witnessing 274 Covid deaths.