There was no respite for people from COVID-19 in the south coastal Andhra region as 16 more patients succumbed to the virus in SPSR Nellore and Prakasam districts, while over 1,600 new cases surfaced in the last 24 hours ending Tuesday morning.

The death toll in the two districts rose to 476 with 10 patients in Prakasam district and six others in SPSR Nellore district losing the battle against the pandemic during the period.

So far, 233 patients in SPSR Nellore district and another 243 in Prakasam district succumbed to the disease, according to a health bulletin released by the State government.

The total number of confirmed cases went up to 24,491 in SPSR Nellore district and 17,875 in Prakasam district with 1,654 persons, including 949 in SPSR Nellore district, getting infected during the period.

As many as 1,074 patients, including 319 in Prakasam district, were discharged from hospitals. The number of fresh admissions in hospitals outnumbered the number of cured patients by 580 in the two districts at a time when the hospitals were flooded with patients.

Meanwhile, the Nellore district administration decided to rope in third year and fourth year nursing students from Wednesday to attend on a large number of in-patients in the designated government and private hospitals.

District Collector K.V.N. Chakradhar Babu said more positive cases were likely in the next two months. He assured the nursing students of providing them with necessary PPE kits and wanted the nursing college managements to ensure that all reported for

duty in the government and private hospitals allotted to them for treating COVID-19 patients from August 26 without fail. Compared to other places, the viral load was relatively less in the district. Hence they need not fear to attend on patients, he said.

The hospitals where they performed duties would provide them necessary security, he said. Over 4,000 to 5,000 persons were subjected to testing in the district every day, he added.

Doctors to be appointed

Faced with shortage of healthcare professionals, Prakasam District Collector P. Bhaskar issued a notification for appointment of two doctors including one with specialisation in pulmonary medicine, as also anesthesia and ECG

technicians. Government General Hospital Superintendent D. Sriramulu urged interested candidates to come for a walk-in interview on August 27.