AP's COVID-19 tally crosses 4.5 lakh with over 10,000 cases for 8th day in a row

The recovery rate improved to 76.47 per cent, inching closer to the national average, while the mortality rate remained steady at 0.91 per cent, less than the countrys 1.76 per cent. Srikakulam in north coastal Andhra is one of the districts that has been witnessing a rapid surge in coronavirus cases over the past few weeks.

The ominous rise in coronavirus cases in Andhra Pradesh continued as the state on Wednesday added 10,000 plus fresh infections for the eighth straight day, taking the count past the 4.5 lakh mark. As a five-figure daily increase seemed to have become the norm of late, the government, in its daily COVID-19 bulletin, recorded 10,392 fresh positive cases, 8,454 recoveries and 72 deaths in 24 hours ending 9 am on Wednesday.

The state's tally of overall cases reached 4,55,531, while the total recoveries increased to 3,48,330. After a total of 4,125 deaths, a sum of 1,03,076 cases remained active in the state, as per the bulletin.

The state so far tested 38,43,550 samples at the rate of 71,977 per million population, turning out a positivity rate of 11.85 per cent as against the national average of 8.49 per cent. The recovery rate improved to 76.47 per cent, inching closer to the national average, while the mortality rate remained steady at 0.91 per cent, less than the countrys 1.76 per cent.

Srikakulam in north coastal Andhra is one of the districts that has been witnessing a rapid surge in coronavirus cases over the past few weeks. The district reported its first Covid-19 case on April 25 and on September 2 touched 25,310 in 131 days.

The number of active cases in the district, though, was only 6,814 after 18,245 had recovered and 251 succumbed, as per the government data. Between August 1 and September 2, a staggering 18,285 fresh cases were added in the district while 177 people died.

As many as 14,295 patients had recovered while active cases increased by 3,813 during the period. Yes, we are on the surge and we are doing more rapid tests, Srikakulam district Collector J Nivas told PTI.

An analysis of the recent spike in the district showed 62 per cent of the new cases coming from rural areas and the rest from urban areas. In the week ended August 29, the cases doubled every 24.6 days and 97 per cent of them were in the existing clusters only, the analysis showed.