Andhra Pradesh crosses 5 lakh COVID-19 cases

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh breached the five-lakh mark after it reported 8,368 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 5,06,493, including 97,932 active cases. Meanwhile, 70 COVID-19 deaths were reported on Monday, pushing the death toll in the state to 4,487.

On a good note, the number of recoveries in the state crossed the four-lakh mark on Monday after 10,055 people recovered from the virus in the past 24 hours. Total recoveries in Andhra stands at 4,04,074. The state also saw a dip in daily COVID-19 numbers on Monday after registering over 10,0000 COVID-19 cases per day for 12 consecutive days (from 26 August to 6 September).

Also, 58,187 samples were tested in the state in the past 24 hours, pushing the total number to 41.66 lakh. Andhra ranks fourth in terms of the number of samples tested behind Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra.

East Godavari continued to report the highest number of COVID-19 cases as the district registered 1,312 new cases on Monday. Meanwhile, Nellore reported 949 cases, and West Godavari 950.

By Monday morning, the state has tested 78,016 samples per million persons, more than double the national average of 35,726 tests. The state’s positivity rate stands at 12.16 per cent, above the national average of 8.48 per cent.

Andhra Pradesh reported its first COVID-19 case on 12 March. By 27 July, the state had already breached the one-lakh mark. On 7 August, AP crossed the two-lakh mark and by 18 August it had already reported three lakh cases. On 28 August, Andhra's COVID-19 cases rose to four lakh. It took just 10 days for the tally to reach five lakh.

A week ago Andhra Pradesh surpassed neighboring Tamil Nadu in terms of the number of COVID-19 infections and became the second worst-affected state after Maharashtra.