The COVID-19 tally of Krishna district has crossed the 600-mark on Wednesday with an increase in number of cases in the recent past.

During the last 48 hours, the district reported 37 fresh cases taking the tally to 607, while the death toll stands at 24. With this, the district overtook Guntur’s tally of 580 cases to become the second worst-hit district in the State after Kurnool.

Most of the cases in Krishna come from the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation and surrounding areas. It may be recalled that Krishna district had only 102 cases when Guntur reported 206 cases on April 24.

At 3.95%, the mortality rate of the district is not just the highest in the State, but also double the State’s mortality rate of 1.89%, as per the data available of State’ COVID-19 dashboard. Kurnool, the most-affected district with 833 cases, has a mortality rate of 3.36% while Guntur has a mortality rate of 1.55%.

With the number of cases ballooning in the recent past, the district now has 225 patients, which is again highest in the State. As many as 358 patients have recovered, bringing the recovery rate to 59% which is lesser than that of Kurnool (73%) and Guntur (69%).

Meanwhile, confusion reigned in the city on Wednesday as most of the shops and commercial establishments remained closed following the identification of 42 municipal wards as containment zones.

While movement of public and vehicular traffic was not restricted, wary owners kept their shops shuttered.