Vizag takes the lead as Andhra records super spike in COVID cases

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh has registered the highest ever single day spike of 6,045 new Covid-19 cases taking the overall tally of cases in the state to 64,713. Worse, 65 deaths take the death toll to 823 in the last 24 hours.

The state health department in its Covid-19 bulletin issued here on Wednesday reported that out of 49,553 samples tested, 6,045 individuals found to have been infected with the coronavirus.

Among new infections, Visakhapatnam took the lead, registering a whopping 1,049 cases followed by 891 in East Godavari, 842 in Guntur, 678 in Kurnool, 672 in West Godavari, 345 in Chittoor, 327 in Nellore, 325 in Anantapur, 252 in Srikakulam, 229 in Kadapa, 177 in Prakasam, 151 in Krishna and 107 in Vizianagaram.

The state government has tested 14,35,827 samples so far and of them, 32,127 patients have been discharged after recovery while 31,763 patients are undergoing treatment.

The state also recorded the highest number of deaths - 65 - on a single day and Guntur has been the worst hit with 15 deaths, followed by 10 in Krishna, eight in West Godavari, seven in East Godavari, five each in Chittoor and Kurnool, four in Vizianagaram, three each in Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam and one each in Kadapa and Nellore.

In Guntur district, an aged man died while standing in a queue to undergo a Covid-19 test at Sarabhaiah high school at Sattenapalli. Nagaiah arrived at the school premises and was waiting to give his swab samples for Covid-19 test. However, after waiting for nearly two hours in the long queue, he collapsed complaining of chest pain and died.

Later, he was tested Covid-19 positive. The health authorities followed Covid-19 protocol to conduct last rites.

In another case, an aged man committed suicide after learning that he was infected with coronavirus at a quarantine centre at Gundimeda near Tadepalli. According to police, Munipalle Sambasiva Rao, used to work as a compounder in a private hospital at Tenali. He volunteered to undergo a Covid-19 test and was found infected with the virus on July 14.

He was shifted to a quarantine centre. However, the doctors informed him that he would be sent home after conducting Covid-19 test for the second time and collected his swab samples for testing.

Even before test results came out, he took the extreme step as he was dejected at getting infected with the virus. Based on a complaint from his wife Lakshmi Parvathi, police booked a case.

In Kadapa district, 229 new cases have been reported, taking the overall tally in the district to 3,610. The district police booked 460 cases against those who were moving out without wearing face masks and also for failing to comply with all safety norms to contain the spread of Covid-19 in Kadapa, Maidukuru, Pulivendula, Proaddatur, Rajampeta and Jammalamadugu sub-divisions.

District SP Karur, Karunapathi Nagendra Kumar Anburajan, said that they had imposed fines up to Rs 1.22 lakh and urged the people to comply with all safety norms by wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing.

In East Godavari, 891 new cases have been reported from 61 mandals in the district. The district has 20 containment clusters at present and 80 individuals are in home isolation.

In West Godavari, the district administration announced 38 containment zones following finding out several coronavirus infections and the people living in these zones have been advised to stay put at home and have been assured of supply of essential commodities at their doorstep.

In Anantapur, 325 new cases have been reported taking the total number of cases 6,226.

In Nellore district, 146 new cases have been reported taking the tally to 2,995. Health authorities have said that 1,548 patients infected with Covid-19 have been in isolation both in hospitals and also at their homes.

In Chittoor district, 175 new cases have been reported taking the overall tally to 5,668. Among new cases, 86 are from Tirupati alone, while 18 are from Puttur, 13 from Narayanavanam, five each from Chittoor and Srikalahasti and three each from Padala and Satyavedu, two each from Nagari and Renigunta and one each from 12 mandals.