VIJAYAWADA: COVID-19 tally in Andhra Pradesh jumped to 1,332 with 73 more people tested positive in the past 24 hours ending 9 am on Wednesday.
A record number of 7,727 samples were tested between 9 am on Tuesday and 9 am on Wednesday.
Guntur district accounted for the maximum number of new cases with 29 followed by Krishna (13) and Kurnool (11).
One more case was reported from Srikakulam, where the pandemic spread for the first time last week, taking its tally to five.
Kurnool district tops the chart with 343 cases followed by Guntur (283) and Krishna (236).
On a brighter note, no Covid death was reported in the past 24 hours and 29 recovered patients were discharged in Guntur, Anantapur, Krishna and Nellore districts. The total number of patients discharged so far went up to 287, leaving 1,014 active cases.
Meanwhile, at a review meeting on Covid-19 chaired by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, officials said that the trial tests were conducted at the Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) set up at Rajiv Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Srikakulam. Further, officials said efforts were on to set up two more labs at Ongole and Nellore.
“By Saturday, all the three labs will start functioning,’’ officials said, adding that nine labs are conducting tests in eight districts of the State. “Apart from these labs, Truenat kits will be made available at 50 area and teaching hospitals,’’ officials said, adding that they are in touch with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for getting a mobile testing lab for the State.
Officials said they were making arrangements for delivering medicines prescribed by the doctors to the callers through the telemedicine service. “Officials are making sure that medicines are delivered at the doorstep of the callers within a day,’’ officials said. Responding to this, Jagan said a joint collector rank officer shall be given the responsibility of monitoring the delivery of medicines to the callers.
The Chief Minister enquired about the status of tests conducted on the people who were identified with Covid-19 symptoms during the house-to-house survey and asked officials to complete the tests at the earliest. “Till now, 12,247 tests were conducted and the remaining will be completed in the next three days,’’ officials said. On the agriculture front, Jagan said the government has also procured maize from farmers, which was never done in the past. He also wanted officials to take steps for setting up banana and tomato processing units in the State. “With the initiatives taken by the government, the market prices stabilised in the State,’’ officials told the CM. They also said that they have hired AP State Road Transport Corporation buses to supply vegetables to the people.