Coronavirus cases continued to be on a steep climb in South Coastal Andhra Pradesh, with 771 persons testing positive on Monday.
Six more COVID patients succumbed to the pandemic in Nellore and Prakasam districts, health officials said.
Nellore district accounted for four deaths, taking its toll to 542. The toll rose to 594 in Prakasam district as two more patients succumbed to the virus in the last 24 hours, according to a health bulletin released by the State government on Monday night.
The number of active cases rose to 6,364 as 491 persons tested positive in Nellore district, while 280 persons tested positive in Prakasam district.
With this, the cumulative tally rose to 1,34,356 in the region, including 68,091 in Nellore district. As many as 391 persons — 336 in Nellore district and 55 in Prakasam district — recovered from the virus during the period.
Thanks to a replenishment of vaccine doses by the Centre, the vaccination drive that was suspended after the ‘Tika Utsav’ resumed in the region.
As many as 9,000 health workers took the jab in Prakasam district on Monday till late in the evening, Prakasam District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) P. Ratnavalli told The Hindu while overseeing the inoculation process at the 104 session sites in the district.
“We have 36,000 doses of Covaxin and Covishield vaccines,” she said, exhorting eligible persons to visit their nearest public health centre to take the jab.
More than 2,300 of the over 3,200 cases were treated from home as they suffered from only mild symptoms, she said. Patients need not be concerned as the health administration has enough stock of oxygen and drugs, she said.
As many as 1,600 beds have been arranged at COVID-19 hospitals, including 182 ICU beds, to treat patients with severe symptoms, she said. The 280 new cases came from 38 of the 56 mandals in the district with Ongole city alone accounting for 86 new cases.