Bengaluru, Mar 25 (IANS): For the second consecutive day after four months, new Covid cases crossed the 2,000-mark in Karnataka, with Bengaluru accounting for 1,398, said the state health bulletin on Wednesday.

With 2,298 new cases registered on Tuesday, the state's Covid tally increased to 9,75,955, including 16,886 active cases, while recoveries rose to 9,44,589, with 995 patients discharged during the day.

As epicentre of the pandemic, Bengaluru reported 1,398 fresh cases on Tuesday, taking its Covid tally to 4,21,236, including 11,520 active cases, while recoveries rose to 4,05,152, with 637 discharged in the last 24 hours.

Of the 12 lives lost to the infection, seven were in Bengaluru, two in Mysuru and one each in Dharwad, Kalaburagi and Koppal districts, taking the state's death toll to 12,461 since the pandemic broke in mid-March a year ago.

Of the 143 patients in the intensive care units (ICUs), 45 are in Bengaluru hospitals, 19 in Kalaburagi and 12 in Mandya, with the rest spread over the remaining 28 districts across the southern state.

Out of 1,08,013 tests conducted during the day, 6,525 were through rapid-antigen detection and 1,01,488 through RT-PCR method.

Positivity rate for the day increased to 2.12 per cent, while case fatality rate was 0.52 per cent across the state on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, 64,927 people were vaccinated during the day across the state, with 47,318 of them being senior citizens, 13,205 comorbid, 1,875 healthcare workers and 2,529 frontline warriors.

Cumulatively, 28,91,719 beneficiaries received the jab since the vaccine drive was launched on January 16 across the state.