Andhra Pradesh saw a quantum jump in the number of coronavirus cases with 21, including 18 who attended the Jamat congregation in New Delhi, testing positive on Tuesday, taking the overall tally to 44, the Medical and Health Department said.
Prakasam district recorded the highest number of eight cases, followed by five in Guntur, four in Visakhapatnam, two in Anantapur and one each in Krishna and East Godavari, a bulletin from the department said.
Four of the fresh cases were from Visakhapatnam and all had attended the religious event in Nizamuddin in Delhi between March 13 and 15.
In all, 21 people who tested positive, either attended the event or transmitted it to their contacts, they said.
"As many as 17 coronavirus positive people attended the religious congregation while four others were their contacts," official sources said.
Almost all of them travelled either by Duronto Express or AP Express from Hazrat Nizamuddin from March 16 and reached various destinations across the state.
"Necessary action has been taken to identify the people who attended the congregation at New Delhi. Several people have already been identified in each district and kept in isolation centers and are being treated as per the requirement," Minorities Welfare Department Principal Secretary Md Iliyas Rizvi said.
He requested people who attended the event to voluntarily notify the Collectors of their respective districts or to the helpline 104 immediately"in their own interest and in the interest of mankind.
Meanwhile, one person got afflicted upon his return from Medina while two others contracted it from a Mecca returnee in Karnataka.
Overall, Prakasam district now has a total of 11 cases followed by 10 in Visakhapatnam, nine in Guntur, five in Krishna, four in East Godavari, two in Anantapur and one each in Chittoor, Nellore and Kurnool, since March 12 when the first coronavirus positive case was reported in the state. The lone patient in Nellore and another in Visakhapatnam have recovered.
The bulletin issued on Tuesday night said a total of 256 samples were tested since Monday night of which 235 turned negative.