Eleven more patients died of coronavirus in south-coastal Andhra Pradesh, while over 1,000 persons tested positive for the virus in the districts of Nellore and Prakasam in the last 24 hours.
The death toll in Prakasam district rose to 157 with five deaths. Six more patients succumbed to the virus in neighbouring Nellore district, taking the toll to 137, a health bulletin released by the State Government said on Saturday night.
The number of new cases continued unabated in the region with 572 more persons getting infected in Nellore district and another 489 persons contracting the virus in Prakasam district.
Health personnel had a tough time as new admissions into COVID-19 hospitals outnumbered the number of discharged persons during the period by 419, with hospitals being filled to capacity with patients.
While 642 patients were cured and discharged in Nellore district, 104 patients were discharged from hospitals in Prakasam district. With this, the number of active patients stood at 5,247 in Nellore district and 4,306 in Prakasam district.
Meanwhile, the mobile testing ‘Sanjeevani’ buses evoked a good response from the public as they meandered through dusty villages across Prakasam district to test persons with suspected symptoms. “On each day, each health personnel manning the remodelled State-run bus tests around 150 persons,” said a functionary named K. Ambedkar after testing a group of patients near the NGO colony here.
In Nellore, Collector K.V.N. Chakradhar Babu exhorted COVID-19 frontline workers to brace for a challenging period ahead. The number of positive cases are expected to go up in the next two months, according to officials.
The spread of COVID-19 continued with more intensity in Ongole as over 150 persons tested positive followed by Kandukur with 48 new cases, a report compiled by the Government General Hospital in Ongole said.
