Amaravati, Jul 15 (IANS): A massive jump of more than 500 new cases over the previous day saw Andhra Pradesh report its highest single-day tally ever on Wednesday with an unprecedented 2,432 new cases detected in the 24 hours ending 9 a.m.
State health officials said that as few as three districts reported new cases in double digits, with the remaining nine districts returning Covid counts running into triple digits. Guntur reported the highest tally of 468 while Kurnool followed with 403 cases. Similarly, Chittoor with 257 cases, East Godavari with 247 cases also ranked among the high incidence districts of the state.
Some of the other districts that reported high numbers over the previous 24 hours include West Godavari with 207 cases, Srikakulam with 178 cases, Anantapur with 162 cases, Visakhapatnam with 123 cases, Kadapa with 112 cases and Krishna district with 108 cases.
With Wednesday's addition of new cases, Andhra Pradesh's overall tally of Covid cases has jumped to 35,451 cases detected till date.
The previous record for single-day tally was on Monday when 1,935 cases were reported.
On Wednesday, the state also reported the highest ever death toll in a single day, with 44 deaths reported from 9 of the 13 districts in the state. The overall death toll in Andhra Pradesh shot up to 452, state health officials said.
Wednesday's death toll beats the previous record of 43 deaths reported the preceding morning. Deaths were reported from 12 of the state's 13 districts. Anantapur and West Godavari districts recorded the highest number of nine deaths each, followed by Kurnool with five deaths. On the other hand, Chittoor, East Godavari, and Visakhapatnam reported four deaths each, while Kadapa, Krishna and Prakasam reported two deaths each. At the bottom of the list were Nellore, Srikakulam, and Vizianagaram districts reporting one death each.
In all, 805 persons were discharged from hospitals and Covid treatment centres by Wednesday. Andhra Pradesh currently has 16,621 active cases while 18,378 persons have been declared as cured and discharged till date.
A significant upsurge was reported during the previous 24 hours in the number of positive cases detected in returnees from other states to Andhra Pradesh. On Wednesday, 20 new cases were detected from returnees to the state from other parts of the country. Of these, 12 persons had returned from the neighbouring Telugu state of Telangana, while five persons were from Tamil Nadu, and three persons had returned from Karnataka.
In all, 2,444 persons have tested positive for Covid among those who returned from other states. The active cases tally in this category is 427, while 2,017 persons have recovered till date.
Over the past 24 hours, no new cases were reported from persons with a travel history to foreign countries. The cumulative tally of Covid patients in this category stands at 432, while 329 persons have been discharged after getting cured. As of Tuesday, 103 cases are receiving treatment.