Amaravati, Aug 19 (IANS): The COVID-19 pandemic claimed 86 more lives in Andhra Pradesh even as 9,742 new cases pushed the state's tally to 3,16,003 on Wednesday, officials said.

With the latest fatalities, the state's corona death toll mounted to 2,906.

The state's mortality rate is 0.92 per cent as against the national average of 1.91 per cent. Officials said the state's mortality rate is much lower than that of Gujarat (3.48 per cent) and Maharashtra (3.36).

According to a media bulletin released by the State Command Control Room, 15 fatalities each were reported in Chittoor and Nellore districts, eight in Anantapur district, seven in Guntur district, six each in Prakasam and Srikakulam districts, five each in West Godavari, East Godavari, Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram districts, four in Kadapa, three in Krishna, and two in Kurnool district.

During the last 24 hours, East Godavari district reported maximum 1,399 cases. As many as 1,123 new cases were reported in Anantapur, 919 in West Godavari district, 830 in Chittoor, 835 in Visakhapatnam, 794 in Kurnool, and 755 in Nellore district.

As many as 8,061 more patients recovered during the period, taking total recoveries to 2,18,311.

Andhra Pradesh now has 86,725 active cases, with maximum 15,767 in East Godavari, followed by 9,348 in Chittoor, 7,787 in Guntur, and 6,952 in Vizianagaram.

During the last 24 hours ending at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, 57,685 more tests were conducted, including 34,086 VRDL/Truenat/NACO and 23,599 rapid antigen tests. The state has so far tested 30,19,296 samples.

Andhra Pradesh stands third after Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra in the number of corona tests. However, it ranks first in terms of tests per million with a figure of 55,541. With 10.47 per cent positivity rate, it fares better than states like Maharashtra (18.84 per cent), Karnataka (11.29), and Telangana (12.15).