The toll due to COVID-19 increased to 977 in south coastal Andhra Pradesh with 10 patients succumbing to the viral disease in SPSR Nellore and Prakasam districts in the last 24 hours ending on Thursday morning.
Six succumbed to the dreaded disease in Prakasam district taking the toll to 512, according to a health bulletin released by the State government on Thursday night. In SPSR Nellore district, the toll rose to 465 as four died of the viral disease during the period.
After several days of more recoveries than fresh admissions, the difference between the two narrowed down to 157 as 902 persons tested positive for the disease during the period in the two districts, while only 1,059 patients were discharged from hospitals.
With 311 persons testing positive, the cumulative confirmed cases rose to 57,324 in SPSR Nellore district. Meanwhile, 457 patients were cured of the disease bringing down the number of active cases to 3,579. So far, 53,745 patients have recovered from the illness in the district.
In Prakasam district, 591 persons contracted the disease, taking the total number of cases to 53,002 so far. The active cases came down marginally to 4,594 as 602 patients recovered from the disease. So far, 47,896 patients had been cured of the disease in the district.
Over 4,000 persons tested negative for the disease in Prakasam district, where 4.83 lakh people had so far been screened, COVID-19 nodal officer John Richards said.
The new cases came from across the district, including Vengalapalli, Kothapatnam, P.C.Palli, S.N.Padu, H.M.Padu, Rallapadu, Tallur, Tripurantakam, Chimakurthy, Kothapatnam, Ballikurava and Jarugmalli.