The number of local COVID-19 cases reported daily in Andhra Pradesh has refused to go down, even as several people who have returned from other states and countries also tested positive. So far, 111 people who have returned from other countries were found to have COVID-19. Of these, 97 people have returned from Kuwait alone, while 7 people have returned from Qatar, 3 from Dubai and 1 from Saudi Arabia.
The COVID-19 bulletin from Tuesday morning revealed that 8,418 samples were tested in the state in the past 24 hours, and 48 new local cases were detected among them. Among foreign returnees, 49 new cases were detected in this period.
Hundreds of people have returned from abroad to Andhra Pradesh under the Vande Bharat mission, from various places, including Philippines, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, London and Saudi Arabia, over the past week.
Among the people who have returned from other states, 153 people have tested positive as per the official data released by the state government, of which 106 people have recovered so far. These people were brought in from states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and others, where they were stranded, in special buses and trains. However, this number has remained the same since May 20.
The official number of cases in Andhra Pradesh stands at 2,719 as of Tuesday morning. However, including the cases detected among those who returned from outside the state post lockdown, the total stands at 2,983.
It has been a week since the state government stopped sharing district-wise break up of COVID-19 cases. Special Chief Secretary (Health) Jawahar Reddy had said that the bulletin format had been changed to leave out district-wise data on the request of District Collectors.
Meanwhile, domestic flight operations were resumed in the state on Tuesday, with flight services starting from Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam airports. Inter-district bus services have already resumed, with various operational guidelines in place.