Amaravati, May 17 (IANS): Low testing and less number of positive cases marked the Covid scene in Andhra Pradesh over the 24 hours ending 10 a.m. on Monday.

Out of the 73,749 samples tested in this time period, 18,561 returned positive, state health officials said on Monday.

In comparison, around 1.15 lakh tests were conducted on an average everyday, while the average daily Covid tally hovered above the 20,000-mark. In fact, the state reported its highest single-day tally of 24,172 Covid cases on Sunday.

On Monday, one district reported 3,000-plus cases, two districts reported Covid numbers in excess of 2,000, six districts reported above 1,000 cases each, while the remaining four districts had three-digit tallies.

East Godavari reported the highest tally of 3,152 cases, followed by Visakhapatnam (2,098) and Anantapur (2,094).

The districts which reported more than 1,000 cases each included Guntur (1,639), Chittoor (1,621), Srikakulam (1,287), Nellore (1,282), West Godavari (1,185) and Prakasam (1,116).

Meanwhile, 109 persons succumbed to the pandemic during the same timeframe.

West Godavari with 16 deaths reported the highest toll, while YSR Kadapa with three deaths reported the lowest fatalities on Monday.

Following the high number of deaths, the state's cumulative death toll jumped to 9,481 while the cumulative tally of Covid cases mounted to 14,54,052.

So far, the state has conducted 1,80,49,054 tests.

On a positive note, 17,334 people recovered from the virus in the 24-hour cycle, taking the state's total number of recoveries to 12,33,017.

Andhra Pradesh presently has 2,11,554 active cases.