Andhra Pradesh reported more than 10,000 cases in a single day for the second consecutive day on Thursday. According to the COVID-19 bulletin, 10,167 people were found to have COVID-19, with 70,068 samples tested in the 24-hour period ending at 9 am on Thursday. The total number of active patients in the state is 69,252 as of Thursday morning. A total of 68 deaths were recorded on Thursday, taking the state’s death toll up to 1,281.
Three districts recorded more than 1,000 cases each, with East Godavari (1,441) recording the highest spike, followed by Kurnool (1,252) and Visakhapatnam (1,223). West Godavari saw the fourth highest spike (998) in cases, followed by Anantapur (954), Guntur (946), Kadapa (753), Nellore (702), Srikakulam (586), Chittoor (509), Prakasam (318), Krishna (271) and Vizianagaram (214).
East Godavari and Guntur districts recorded nine deaths each, followed by Anantapur, Kurnool and Visakhapatnam (8 each), Chittoor and Kadapa (6 each), Prakasam and Vizianagaram (4 each), Krishna (3), Nellore, Srikakulam and West Godavari (1 death each). With this, the state’s mortality rate stands at 0.98%.
In the 24-hour period, 4,618 patients were discharged, taking the total number of recovered persons up to 60,024.
The state has ramped up its testing capacity with the use of Rapid Antigen tests, and has tested a total of 18,90,077 samples so far.
Kurnool and Krishna districts continue to record the highest number of fatalities, which authorities have attributed to the influx of patients from neighbouring districts. However, there has been an alarming surge in the number of deaths in East Godavari, accompanied by the surge in infections. So far, East Godavari has recorded 157 deaths.
The government has introduced the triage system to deal with the mounting pressure on the state’s medical infrastructure, where cases are assigned with a degree of urgency, in order to decide the order of treatment of a large number of patients.