Bengaluru Urban alone accounted for 23,106 infections and 161 fatalities.
Karnataka on Wednesday reported more than 50,000 new coronavirus cases for the first time, with nearly half of them in capital Bengaluru, as the second wave of COVID-19 left patients and hospitals scrabbling for medicines and oxygen.
The state has reported an alarming rise in infections over the past few weeks, fast becoming one of the worst-hit.
Karnataka, which has reported 17.4 lakh infections so far, has 4.8 lakh active cases. The state reported 346 new deaths, taking its total fatalities to 16,884.
In the single-largest spike in both COVID-19 cases and fatalities since the start of the pandemic, the state logged 50,112 infections and 346 deaths.
The numbers were greater than the previous high on May 1 when the state logged 48,296 cases and 292 deaths, the health department said.
Bengaluru Urban alone accounted for 23,106 infections and 161 fatalities.
The day also saw 26,841 people getting discharged.
In all, 17,41,046 positive cases have been confirmed in Karnataka, which includes 16,884 deaths and 12,36,854 discharges, the bulletin said.
Active cases stood at 4,87,288.
Tumakuru and Mysuru were the second major COVID-19 hotspots in Karnataka with 2,790 and 2,335 infections and 10 and 12 fatalities on Wednesday.
Udupi was next with 1,655 cases, Mandya 1,621, Hassan 1,604, Dakshina Kannada 1,529, Bengaluru Rural 1,033, in Dharwad 1,030 and 1,009 in Chikkamagaluru.
Ten districts reported cases in excess of 500 each.
Among the 346 deaths, Ballari and Mandya accounted for 19 each, Uttara Kannada, Shivamogga and Kalaburagi had 15 each, Hassan 11 and eight each in Bidar and Dharwad.
Barring Kodagu, Koppal and Yadgir, other districts also reported fatalities.
A total of 2.63 crore samples have been tested so far, out of which 1,55,224 were on Wednesday alone.
The government said 86 people have so far tested positive for the UK strain, six for the South African strain and 62 for the Double Mutant (B.1.617) one.
(With inputs from PTI)