VIJAYAWADA: Six new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the State within 24 hours, bringing the total active cases to 18. Officials of the Health and Family Welfare Department disclosed that 12 active cases were recorded on Friday and six more cases were reported on Saturday.
According to the health bulletin released on Saturday at 10.00 am by the Health and Family Welfare Department, six cases were detected out of 140 samples tested. Neither deaths nor recoveries have been reported in the last 24 hours.
Speaking to TNIE, Director of Health Dr K Padmavathi assured the public that the situation is being closely monitored. She provided details on the distribution of the new cases, stating, “Two cases were reported in Kakinada, three in Visakhapatnam, and one in the NTR district.”
Meanwhile, the State government has set up a command control room to monitor the COVID situation in the state in the wake of the spike in cases due to the JN.1 variant. It has been learnt that all 18 individuals, who have been affected by the virus, are experiencing only mild symptoms. None of them have required hospitalisations either.
Amid growing concerns, Dr Padmavathi disclosed that the results of the genome sequencing test are pending and will take some time. She emphasised on the importance of testing and confirmed that all RT-PCR-positive samples have been dispatched to the genome sequencing lab located at Siddhartha College campus in Vijayawada.
Commissioner of Health J Nivas stated, “We are actively tackling the situation. The public must remain vigilant and follow COVID-19 protocol. We are committed to providing transparent and timely updates as the situation evolves.”