Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Union government has released a total of Rs 199.87 crore to Andhra Pradesh so far. This was revealed by Union Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey in a written reply to Rajya Sabha member Parimal Nathwani, on Tuesday.
The Union government said it has also provided machines worth Rs 3.10 crore, including one CFX-96 Touch Real-Time PCR Detection System and seven Automated RNA Extraction Machines. Under the ‘India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package,’ the state has also received 1,70,722 RNA kits, 1,22,040 VTMs and 2,46,567 RT-PCR kits, all worth over Rs 16 crore, the release said.
The Union government also sent 3,960 ventilators, 14.63 lakh N95 masks, 2.79 lakh PPE kits and 31.5 lakh HCQ tablets, the release said, quoting the Union Minister of State for Health.
As on Tuesday, the state has reported 10,555 recoveries against 7,553 new COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Tuesday. The recovery rate in the state has been showing a steady improvement as more COVID-19 patients are getting cured as compared to the new cases being reported daily.
A total of 6,39,302 total cases, 5,62,376 recoveries and 5,461 deaths have been reported in total. The number of active cases plummeted to 71,465 on Tuesday.
The state so far completed 52.29 lakh sample tests at the rate of 97,931 per million population, turning out a positivity rate of 12.22 per cent against the national average of 8.52 per cent.
Chittoor district reported eight more coronavirus casualties in 24 hours and crossed a total of 600, the highest in the state. Guntur’s COVID-19 death count crossed 500 and Krishna and Visakhapatnam’s 400 on Tuesday.
(With PTI inputs)