Andhra Pradesh conducts over 70 lakh Covid confirmatory tests

VIJAYAWADA: The overall coronavirus confirmatory tests conducted by the state crossed the 70 lakh mark on Sunday. Andhra Pradesh stands fifth in terms of the total number of Covid-19 tests conducted after Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. However, AP, where the recovery rate is 94.52 per cent, is in top among the larger states when it comes to tests conducted per million population. 

According to a media bulletin released by the State Command Control Room, 74,945 samples were tested in the 24 hours ending Sunday 9 am, out of which 3,986 returned positive. With 528 new cases, West Godavari contributed the most to the tally, followed by Krishna (503) and Guntur (496) even as Kurnool and Vizianagaram recorded less than 100 fresh infections. Districts such as West Godavari, East Godavari, Chittoor and Prakasam, which were recording nearly 1,000 cases every day for nearly a month, have started to witness lower spikes. Chittoor, East Godavari and Prakasam reported less than 500 cases combined in the 24 hours.

Meanwhile, high recoveries brought down the active cases even further. For the first time in the recent past, the active cases in Kurnool district came down to 970. The toll rose by 23 to 6,429. Chittoor, Guntur and Krishna each reported four deaths, and Anantapur, East Godavari, Nellore and West Godavari reported two each.