Seventy one new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday, taking the total to 1,403. Kurnool district, the largest coronavirus hotbed in the state, reported 43 cases on Thursday, taking the total tally in the district alone to 386.
Krishna district, where Vijayawada city has emerged as another cause of concern for authorities, reported 10 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total to 246. The other hotbed in the state,Guntur, had only four new cases, increasing its total tally to 287.
Officials attributed the steady spurt in cases over the last few days in Kurnool district to 'local transmission' and said that contact tracing was underway to isolate all those who could have potentially contracted the virus.
No new deaths have been reported in the past few days and the death toll has remained at 31.
34 more patients discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours. In all, 321 patients have been discharged in Andhra Pradesh so far. The number of active cases stands at 1,051.
Kadapa district also reported four cases, while Anantapur and Chittoor districts reported 3 cases each and East Godavari and Nellore districts reported 2 cases each. No new cases were reported in Srikakulam district which reported its first four cases this week. Vizianagaram district remains the only district in the state to remain untouched by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The aggregate number of tests conducted in the state increased to 94,558, with 6,497 tests conducted since Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the state government has issued notification for the recruitment of 1170 doctors to work at COVID-specialty hospitals in the 13 districts of the state. A notification has also been issued for recruiting 1070 specialist doctors on contract basis.
After a review meeting with Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the state government in a press release said that hotspots have been put into three categories to fight COVID-19 -- 76 'active' clusters where positive cases reported in the past five days, 55 clusters where no positive cases have been reported in the past five to 14 days, and 73 'dormant' clusters with no positive cases reported in the past 4 to 28 days.
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