Bengaluru, Karnataka registered the highest number of Covid positive cases in a single day, 16, raising the total to 197 on Thursday.

"Sixteen new cases have been confirmed since Wednesday," said Karnataka state Primary and Secondary Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar.

According to Kumar, first 50 cases took 16 days to surface, next 50 cases eight days, from 100 to 150 cases it took four days and another four days to reach 197 cases.

In the fight against coronavirus, Kumar said the Covid task force on Thursday decided to test all secondary contacts as well.

On Thursday, an 80-year-old woman from Karnataka's Gadag with history of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) succumbed to pandemic.

The deceased was designated as the state's 166th Covid positive case and also the state's sixth fatality.

Gadag is 383 km northwest of Bengaluru.

"She had hypotension and died after cardiac arrest. She was at Gadag Institute of Medical Sciences, a Covid hospital since Saturday. She was confirmed positive on Monday," said Kumar.

As many as 42 contacts of the sixth fatality, 35 primary contacts and seven health workers, tested negative for the virus.

Across the state, 159 Covid-19 patients, including a pregnant woman, are isolated at designated hospitals and are in stable condition, except two who continue to be critical.

After 191 positive cases were reported till Thursday noon, six more cases surfaced in the next five hours -- five men and a woman.

"As of 5 p.m. on Thursday, 197 Covid-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, including six deaths and 30 discharges," said a health official.

Karnataka's 192nd Covid positive case is a 40-year-old woman from Belagavi, the mother of the 128th case. The woman's 22-year-old son, also a contact of the 128th case, is the 193rd case.

A 27-year-old man from Dharwad with travel history to Delhi is the 194th case.

A 66-year-old man from Bengaluru Urban is the 195th case. He had travelled from Manipur to the city on March 12.

Similarly, a 42-year-old man from the same place with SARI is the 196th case.

The state's 197th case is a 27-year-old man from the same place with similar medical condition.

Meanwhile, Health and Family Welfare Department Additional Chief Secretary Jawaid Akhtar has announced 13 more hospitals across the state as dedicated Covid facilities.

With the addition of the 13 new hospitals, the health department will have a total of 5,665 isolation beds, 801 ICU beds and 372 ventilators at its disposal to tackle Covid-19.