In Karnataka, the recovery rate exceeded COVID-19 positive cases on Monday. The state reported 8244 new COVID-19 cases and at the same time, 8865 patients were discharged after recovery. The state conducted 45,961 tests during this time. There were 119 deaths reported yesterday. Bengaluru Urban district with the highest caseload in the state reported 3495 discharges against 2966 new COVID-19 Cases.  It was reported that Bengaluru which stands first among cities with the highest caseloads, has recorded 75.23 per cent recovery rate and 1.42 per cent death rate. The positivity rate in the city is 14.05 per cent and active cases rate is 23.34 per cent. There are 15,806 active containment zones. Out of 12,35,880 COVID-19 tests conducted so far, 1,73,628 are found positive, 1,30,627 have recovered and 2474 have died of the infection in Bengaluru. The state-wise comparison shows that Karnataka comes after Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu in terms of total positive cases reported till date. But in terms of deaths due to COVID-19, the state holds the third position in the country after Maharashtra and Tamilnadu.

In Tamil Nadu, the active COVID-19 caseload has marginally come down to about 46,900. The total infections have crossed 5,08000 while the recoveries have mounted to over 4,53,000. Meanwhile, the State School Education Department is making efforts to fine-tune the curriculum in view of the lost teaching hours due to the pandemic. It was reported, the State School Education Department is said to have curtailed the syllabus for classes up to the Tenth standard by about 40 per cent. The Plus-One and Plus Two syllabi are left almost untouched as they assume more importance for various entrance examinations. Meanwhile, the Anna University that conducts semester examinations for the engineering students in its affiliated colleges is gearing up to hold the final semester examinations from the 24th of this month through online. Its duration is expected to be one hour with multiple-choice questions. Students have been asked to be prepared with laptops, desktops or smartphones with facilities like internet, camera and mike to appear for the examinations. Viva-voce for the students will be held on the 22nd. Mock tests are being arranged before the commencement of the exams, as this is a new exercise being carried in the new situation.

In Kerala, Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan said that a state-wide genetic study on COVID patients will be carried out. It has been decided that the genetic study of patients infected by the COVID-19 virus that was conducted in the northern districts of the State in collaboration with the Institute of Genomics and Integrated Biology under CSIR, will be extended across the State. Chief Minister further said that as per the experts, the rate of the spread of the virus is very high in the State and the elderly population is at high risk. As the number of patients is increasing, the State Government has expedited the setting up of COVID First-Line Treatment Centers in all the districts and these centres are being transformed into public healthcare centres specially designed to combat the pandemic. The COVID Brigade in the State will be expanded to provide the services of more healthcare workers for better treatment. Presently 30,486 active COVID cases are there in Kerala.