No relief was in sight for people in south coastal Andhra Pradesh from coronavirus as 16 more patients succumbed to the viral disease, while the count rose to 19,888, including 941 fresh cases in SPSR Nellore district and 337 in Prakasam district .
Nellore district also saw an increase in the number of deaths with nine more succumbing to the disease, taking the toll to 86.
On a brighter note, at least 523 persons were recovered and discharged from COVID-19 hospitals. With this, 5,976 persons have recovered from the illness so far. The number of active cases in the district stood at 6,189, a health bulletin released by the Medical and Health department said.
Ten persons, who had returned from Aurangabad in Maharashtra, were among those who tested positive for the viral disease in Prakasam district in the last 24 hours. While 2,879 persons tested negative for the disease, test reports of 2,788 persons were awaited, health officials said in Ongole.
Fear gripped people of Rajiv Gruhakalpa colony in Ongole after a 60-year-old woman died with symptoms of the disease while she was being taken to her native Upugunduru village by an autorickshaw. Municipal workers sanitized the area. The body of the woman was shifted by the Ongole Taluka police to the Government General Hospital(GGH) for post-mortem.
Meanwhile, seven more died of the disease in the district taking the toll to 90, a health bulletin released by the State Government said on Friday night.
The disease rapidly spread across the district. The new cases came from among other places, Santamagalur(13), Martur(12), Singarayakonda(12), Kumarole(9), Yaddavalli(6), Korisapadu(5), Mundlamuru(5) and Cumbum(4). Health authorities had a tough time in tracing some of the new cases as they went missing after testing.
In Ongole, District Collector Pola Bhaskar constituted a four-member committee under Social Forestry Officer Sk.Md.Basha to provide assistance, including best medical treatment, to journalists contracting the disease. So far, about 20 scribes have tested positive to virus in the district, said committee coordinator and Information and Publicity Assistant Director K.Narayana Reddy.