The number of new COVID-19 cases across the State dropped on Sunday to 28,264, but the death toll remained high at 68. A week ago, on January 23, Karnataka had reported over 50,00 new positives, more than the peak of the second wave of the pandemic in 2021. But cases have been steadily declining. There are currently 2,51,084 active cases in the State.Though Bengaluru accounted for the maximum number of cases with 11,938 positive cases, this is a steep decline. Of the 68 people who succumbed to the virus, 14 were from Bengaluru Urban district, 10 from Mysuru and seven each in Dakshina Kannada and Ballari. Tumakuru and Bagalakote each reported four deaths. Since the start of the pandemic, 38,942 people have died of COVID-19 across Karnataka.As many as 29,244 people were discharged on Sunday, taking the total number of recoveries to 34,95,239. The positivity rate for the day was 16.38%, while the case fatality rate was 0.24%.Testing was well over the one lakh mark. As per the daily COVID-19 bulletin released by the Karnataka Health and Family Welfare department, 1,72,483 tests were conducted including 1,33,852 RT-PCR tests. The cumulative number of tests conducted to date stands at 6,17,48,173.