VIJAYAWADA: In a yet another sharp spike in the Covid-19 tally, the state reported 1,200 cases in the 24 hours ending Thursday 9 am taking the overall infections in the state past 9.03 lakh, according to a government health bulletin. The spike is the highest since November 20 when 1,221 cases emerged from 66,000 sample tests. The infections reported on Thursday emerged from less than 32,000 samples.
The four Covid hotspot districts -- Krishna, Guntur, Chittoor and Visakhapatnam -- continued to report more than 150 cases in a day. Chittoor saw its aggregate grow by 285 cases, the highest one-day spike in the state, taking the cumulative cases in the district past the 90,000 mark; Guntur, with 279 new infections, breached the 78,000 mark in the overall cases.
The bulletin released by the State Command Control Room said five districts reported less than 50 cases with the lowest of 12 in West Godavari, followed by 15 in Vizianagaram. Not just in terms of new infections, Vizianagaram also has the lowest cumulative cases of 41,363, and active cases (132) and overall fatalities (238).
As only 464 recoveries were registered in the 24 hours, the active cases breached the 8,100 mark. Three districts -- Chittoor, Krishna and Visakhapatnam -- have more than 1,000 active cases each. Meanwhile, three more deaths were reported in the state with one each fatality in Anantapur, Guntur and Visakhapatnam taking the total deaths to 7,220.
The spike in second spell of of Covid is being witnessed even as the state police and district administrations have taken up a campaign to promote the use of face masks and practice physical distancing.
Panchayat Raj staff take Vaccine jab
Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Commissioner M Girija Shankar has urged employees of all government departments to get inoculated against Covid-19. In the wake of the second wave of Covid-19, he wanted all to wear face masks and adhere to the safety measures advised by the Centre. Panchayat Raj and Rural development staff over 45 years of age took the jab at the Tadepalli primary health centre on Thursday.
