South-coastal Andhra Pradesh continues to reel under the grip of COVID-19, with 17 deaths being reported from Nellore and Prakasam districts in the last 24 hours.
Both districts also accounted for 2,526 new cases in the last 24 hours, according to health officials.
Concerned over the unrelenting rise in new cases, Nellore Collector K.V.N. Chakradhar Babu announced a total lockdown in the district on Sunday. The next three to four weeks will be crucial in the fight against the pandemic, he said after reviewing the health situation.
The toll in Nellore district rose to 325 with eight more patients succumbing to the virus, while 1,270 persons tested positive, a health bulletin released by the State Government said on Friday night.
In Prakasam district, nine more patients died, taking the toll to 307 in the district in the last 24 hours.
There were 1,256 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 37,099 in Nellore district and 26,700 in Prakasam district. Both the districts have been registering over 1,000 cases each day for the past week.
Health professionals, who have been overburdened with treating around 8,900 active cases, got a little reprieve as close to 2,000 persons recovered in the last 24 hours. In Prakasam district, 390 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovering in the last 24 hours.
On the bright side, the recovery rate was encouraging in Nellore district as 28,203 persons were discharged. In Prakasam district, 13,742 patients have recovered so far.
Meanwhile, the Prakasam district administration came in for praise from Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan during an online review meeting for identifying almost all the primary and secondary contacts of the infected persons, which resulted in starting of early treatment of vulnerable sections and speedy recovery of the infected patients.
Meeting with bankers
Holding a meeting with bankers on loan disbursal to entrepreneurs to revive crippled industrial units, Mr.Chakradhar Babu exhorted them to encourage digital transactions and avoid crowding of customers in branches. Semb Corporation donated two haematology analysers on the occasion.
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