VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh has stood fifth in the country by conducting over 50 lakh Covid-19 tests after Uttar Pradesh (82 lakh), Tamil Nadu (63 lakh), Maharashtra (56 lakh) and Bihar (53 lakh). AP’s positivity rate of 12.27 per cent is the third highest in the country after Maharashtra and Chandigarh.
According to the media bulletin released by the State Command Control Room, 74,595 samples were tested in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Saturday, and out of which 8,218 tested positive. The new cases took the State’s Covid count to 6.17 lakh, the second highest in the country, with Maharashtra topping the list. Major spike in corona cases continued in the twin Godavari districts.
Another 1,395 people tested positive in East Godavari, while 1,071 new cases emerged in West Godavari, followed by 736 in Chittoor. Kurnool saw the lowest number of 319 new cases in the State. The recoveries stood on the higher side as 10,820 more patients were discharged from hospitals, which took the total recoveries past the 5.3-lakh mark, leaving over 81,000 active cases.
East Godavari recorded the highest recoveries as well as active cases with a total of 72,474 people discharged from hospitals, while 12,292 are still undergoing treatment. Of the total 58 deaths, nine persons fell prey to Covid in Chittoor, followed by seven in Krishna, five each in Anantapur, Guntur, Kadapa and West Godavari, four each in Nellore, Prakasam and Visakhapatnam, three each in East Godavari, Kurnool and Srikakulam and one in Vizianagaram. The State’s Covid toll stood at 5,302.