Forty-nine more persons, 38 in Prakasam district and 11 in SPSR Nellore district, tested positive for the viral disease in the last 24 hours.
Two persons from Bihar were among the 11 persons who contracted the infection in Nellore district. Vinjamur accounted for three cases, followed by Sangam with two cases and by Nellore, Maripadu, Atmakur and A.S.Peta with one case each. With this, the number of cumulative cases went up to 526.
The number of active cases came down to 195 as 18 persons were discharged from designated COVID-19 hospitals on Friday.
Shortage of staff
Shortage of staff at the testing lab has led to a delay in declaring test results.
“We are unable to cope with the situation. Every day, over 1,000 mouth swab samples are collected and there is a backlog of three days in clearing the samples with only four staff available to handle them,” said COVID-19 nodal officer M. Narendra.
“We have asked for another 10 lab technicians to declare the results without any delay,” he said after reviewing the situation.
In Prakasam district, Chirala accounted for a maximum of 16 new cases, most of the primary contacts of one infected person from Prasad Nagar in Kothapeta area of the handloom town.
Ongole reported eight cases, including five from Siva Prasad colony, while Pamur village registered six cases. Two of the newly-infected persons hailed from Darsi, while an equal number of persons had come from Bapatla in Guntur district. Kanduluru, Singarayakonda, Gudluru and Kanigiri registered one case each.
With this, the number of active cases went up to 143 in the district.
