AP's COVID-19 tally breaches 1 lakh mark; Toll rises to 1,090

Andhra Pradesh on Monday crossed the one lakh mark in COVID-19 cases, with over 6,000 people testing positive as the rapid spread of the infection in recent days continued unabated.

Andhra Pradesh on Monday crossed the one lakh mark in COVID-19 cases, with over 6,000 people testing positive as the rapid spread of the infection in recent days continued unabated. The states COVID-19 count doubled in just about eight days as the day's 6,051 cases pushed the tally to 1,02,349.

It had crossed the 50,000 mark on July 20. East Godavari district registered a high of 1,210 cases.

After 16,86,446 tests were completed on Monday, the COVID-19 positivity rate in the state shot past the 6 per cent mark, a record high. From 15,252 confirmed cases on July 1, the number swelled to the current level as every district in the state has been witnessing a severe surge in the pandemic.

According to the latest bulletin, 49 fresh deaths were reported in the state, taking the coronavirus toll to 1,090. In the last 24 hours, 3,234 patients were discharged from hospitals upon recovery.

The state now has 51,701 active cases after a total of 49,558 patients had recovered, the bulletin said. The recovery rate stood at 48.42 per cent.

The infection spread has been at an alarming level in districts like East Godavari, West Godavari and Anantapuramu particularly in the last 10 days. East Godavari tops the state with 14,696 total cases, followed by Kurnool with 12,234, Guntur 10,747 and Anantapuramu 10,247.

West Godavari is next with 8,820 positive cases, Chittoor 7,809 and Visakhapatnam 7,436. "We are conducting a record number of tests daily and hence the number of positive cases is also high.

We are taking effective steps to control the spread of the disease and, at the same time, ensuring better treatment to the afflicted persons," Deputy Chief Minister (Health) A K K Srinivas said. Of the total number of active cases in the state, about 15,000 patients were in home quarantine only, he said.

Another 15,815 were in Covid Care Centres while 13,998 were in Covid hospitals. "The government has been spending Rs 350 crore per month on Covid care despite the severe financial crunch," Srinivas claimed.

He did not give a direct reply when asked about reports that shortage of doctors and also erratic supply of oxygen were contributing to the death of coronavirus patients in some places "We wanted to recruit about 2,000 doctors in April to treat Covid patients, but only 700 joined. Now efforts are on to fill 9,712 posts by August 15.

We will recruit a total of 17,410 doctors, specialists and paramedical staff for a six-month period exclusively to treat Covid patients," the Deputy Chief Minister added.