There was no let-up in coronavirus cases in south-coastal Andhra Pradesh as 48 more persons — 15 in Nellore district and 33 in Prakasam district — tested positive in the last 24 hours.
Nellore city accounted for nine fresh cases. Sullurpeta, close to Chennai, reported one new case, as did Jaladangi, Bogole, Indukurupet and Kavali.
A person from Guntur also tested positive, taking the total number of active cases to 237 in Nellore distict, a health bulletin compiled by the Medical and Health Department said.
In Prakasam district, Markapur accounted for a high of nine fresh cases followed by Chirala with eight new cases, Vetapalem with four cases and Ongole with three cases, according to COVID-19 Nodal Officer John Richards.
In Ongole, the busy market centre of Gandhi Road, Revenue Colony and Gunuvapalem witnessed fresh cases.
The newly-infected persons include a seven-year-old boy and five-year-old girl, both from Chirala, where the total number of confirmed cases went up to 55.
Two of the infected persons had returned from Chennai and two had returned from Bengaluru. Four others on their return from Jogipeta in Telangana also contracted the virus. A 23-year-old woman from Rajasthan also tested positive on her return to Singarayakonda village.
After the lifting of the lockdown, the virus spread to remote villages in Prakasam district. Polineni Cheruvu (V.V. Palem mandal), Purimetla (Mundlamuru mandal), Kolavaripalem (Parchur mandal), Katrapalem (Podili mandal) and Chinnaganjam reported one fresh case each.
At least five of the infected persons in Prakasam district had no travel history to any COVID-19 hotspots. Four of the newly-infected persons were primary contacts of COVID-19 patients and 12 others secondary contacts of patients under treatment.
