Amaravati, Dec 8 (IANS): Andhra Pradesh has registered 551 new Covid cases, increasing the state's tally to 8.72 lakh, even as 744 more patients recovered from the virus to outnumber fresh infections on Tuesday.

Krishna district accounted for the highest number of cases in the past 24 hours at 108, followed by Guntur (89), Chittoor (76), West Godavari (58), East Godavari (57), Visakhapatnam (36), Nellore (35), Srikakulam (34), Prakasam (18), Vizianagaram (11), Anantapur (8) and Kurnool (3).

With the addition of the new cases, East Godavari continues to shoulder the highest number of Covid-19 cases at 1.22 lakh.

Andhra Pradesh has a positivity rate of 8.34 per cent, higher than the national average of 6.55 per cent.

Meanwhile, four more patients succumbed to the virus in the past 24 hours, raising the southern state's Covid death toll to 7,042.

With 744 more people getting cured, the total number of recoveries rose to 8.6 lakh, narrowing the gap between total infections and recoveries.

With 56,187 more tests, the total number of tests conducted in Andhra Pradesh wet up to 1.05 crore. The per million population test figures were 1.96 lakh, significantly higher than the national average of 1.06 lakh.