Bengaluru, March 14 : Karnataka recorded zero Covid deaths in the last 24 hours, marking the first time since June 5, 2020 that the state has registered no fatalities, according to the Department of Health and Family Welfare. The Department said that although the Covid case numbers decreased drastically, it took some time for the fatalities to reduce. During March, April, May and June of 2021 at the height of the second wave, Karnataka recorded three-digit deaths everyday. By January 2022, even as it was predicted that the Omicron variant will wreck havoc, the vaccination drive in the state had put the breaks on the fatality rate. Since the last nine days, the state recorded single-digit Covid deaths. So far, Karnataka has registered a total of 40,018 deaths since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020. Karnataka stands next to Maharashtra and Kerala in terms of Covid fatalities in the country. The highest number of deaths in the state are being reported from the capital Bengaluru (16,942). Mysuru comes in second with 2,557 deaths, followed by the Dakshina Kannada district bordering Kerala (1,838), while Yadgir has registered the lowest number at 212. The statistics released on Sunday evening stated that Karnataka logged 164 new Covid cases against 130 recoveries. The active cases in the state stood at 2,656. Bengaluru Urban recorded 112 Covid cases, while 14 districts did not report any. /IANS