Amaravati, Dec 17 (IANS): Andhra Pradesh has registered 534 new Covid cases, increasing the state's tally to 8.77 lakh, even as 498 more patients recovered from the virus on Thursday.

Chittoor accounted for the highest number, 130, of infections in the past 24 hours, followed by Krishna (74), Guntur (54), West Godavari (51) and East Godavari (45).

Among other places, Srikakulam (39), Visakhapatnam (31), Nellore (21), Prakasam (19), Anantapur (16), Vizianagaram (14) and Kurnool (13).

With the new cases, East Godavari continues to be the district which has seen the highest number of infections at 1.23 lakh.

Andhra Pradesh's positivity rate fell to 7.93 per cent, but was still higher than the national average of 6.31 per cent.

Meanwhile, two more patients succumbed to the virus in the past 24 hours, raising the state's Covid death toll to 7,069.

With 498 more people getting cured, the total number of recoveries rose to 8.65 lakh, narrowing the gap between total infections and recoveries.

However, in a surprise development, the number of active cases rose from 4,420 to 4,454 in the past 24 hours.

With 63,821 more tests, the total number of Covid tests conducted in Andhra Pradesh crossed 1.1 crore.