Coronavirus continued to rattle South Coastal Andhra Pradesh as six more patients succumbed to the viral disease while more than 1,300 got infected in a span of 24 hours, taking the number of active cases to over 11,000.
The toll rose to 1,179 in the region with SPSR Nellore district accounting for 572 deaths and Prakasam 607, according to the health bulletin released by the State government on Saturday night.
As many as 902 persons got infected in Nellore district and 462 in Prakasam. The capacity of the health infrastructure in the region to treat the ever-increasing number of patients was put to test with the patients getting reprieve from temporarily arranged oxygen cylinders.
Thanks to the intervention by Industries Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy, who himself had tested positive for the disease, Nellore district got 2,000 doses of Remdesivir injection.
After reviewing the health situation, Nellore Collector K.V.N. Chakradhar Babu said the bed strength at the 21 notified hospitals had been increased to over 3,000 while that at the private Narayana Hospital to 1050. Another 3,000 beds were being made available at the COVID-19 Care Centres (CCCs).
There was no shortage of medical oxygen for patients, he said. The Government General Hospital had an oxygen tank with 10 kl capacity and replenishments were being done from time to time.
He said the response to the vaccination drive was encouraging as 15% of the district’s population had been covered so far.
As many as 4.15 lakh doses of vaccine had been given to eligible persons so far. Over 3.12 lakh had taken the first dose and cose to one lakh the second dose, data compiled by the district administration said.