Amaravati, May 9 (IANS): With just 43 cases reported on Saturday, Andhra Pradesh reported it's lowest daily tally of COVID-19 cases in weeks. A steady decline in the number of positive cases over the past one week, combined with increasing numbers of people getting cured, has resulted in the state's active cases dipping below the 1000 mark.

The State Nodal Officer has reported that of the 8,388 samples tested, 43 cases were detected in the 24 hours ending 10 a.m. on Saturday. However, the death toll increased further, with two persons reported dead in Krishna district and one in Kurnool district.

The state's top COVID-19 hotspot of Kurnool district continued to register very low positive cases. Only six cases were reported from here, while Krishna district reported the highest daily tally of 16 cases. Visakhapatnam reported five cases, while Anantapur and Chittoor districts reported three and two cases respectively.

In a reversal of sorts, a decrease in the number of positive cases over the past week has been observed in Andhra Pradesh. 54 cases were detected on Friday, while the 24-hour tally on Thursday was 56. The daily tally was 60 cases on Wednesday. Similarly the tally on Tuesday and Monday was 67.

Prior to this, the daily tally of positive cases used to range between 70 and the highest single-day tally of 81.

On an average, the state tests around 7,500 samples per day and has the country's highest test ratio of 3,091 tests conducted per million population. So far, the state has conducted 1,65,069 tests. The state's positivity rate stands at 1.17 per cent, while the Covid mortality rate is 2.28 per cent. The death toll on Saturday increased to 43, with three deaths reported in the past 24 hours.

Two people had died in Krishna district while one death was reported from Kurnool district. By Saturday, Andhra Pradesh's cumulative tally of COVID-19 cases touched 1,930 but thanks largely to the high number of people being cured and discharged, the tally of active cases dipped to 999, just below the 1000-mark. The past 24 hours saw 45 persons discharged, taking the overall tally of discharged persons in the state to 887.

Despite the reduction in daily numbers, Kurnool district's cumulative tally tops the state list at 553, followed by Guntur and Krishna districts with 376 and 338 cases respectively. Seven of the state's 13 districts did not report any new cases in the last 24 hours.