The second wave of coronavirus continued to take toll in South Coastal Andhra Pradesh as more than 1,600 people contracted the infection, while seven more patients succumbed to the virus in a span of 24 hours.
The number of active cases rose to 18,481 as 1,641 more persons tested positive in the last 24 hours ending at 9 a.m. on Thursday, according to a health bulletin released the State government on Thursday night.
Four more patients died in Nellore district while three more succumbed to the virus in Praksam districts during the period, taking total toll to 1,226. Nellore district has reported 604 deaths while Prakasam district accounted for 622 deaths so far.
The cumulative tally crossed the 1.50 lakh mark in the region as Nellore and Prakasam district reported 1,002 and 639 infections respectively. Ongole alone reported 174 new cases.
Even as there was a dip in the fresh cases in the last 24 hours, the health officials had a tough time in treating the growing number of patients. Only about 500 patients, including 304 in Nellore district, got cured during the period as the hospitals overflowed with patients requiring oxygen support.
The recovery rate dipped to 86.93% as only a little over 1.31 lakh people have won the battle against the virus so far.
COVID Care Centre opened
Meanwhile, only 751 persons took the jab at eight session sites in Nellore district on Thursday, according to an official release. Meanwhile, a COVID Care Centre (CCC) was opened at Kavali to treat the asymtomatic patients in the revenue division, leaving the hospitals to critical cases.
The health officials exhorted the people to adhere to COVID appropriate behaviour such as wearing masks, cleaning hands with sanitiser and maintaining social distance in view of the rapid rise in the infection.