Amaravati, Jan 20 (IANS): The daily Covid-19 count in Andhra Pradesh surged to 12,615 on Thursday while active cases jumper to over 53,000.

The state also reported five deaths due to Covid during 24-hour period ending 10 a.m Thursday, taking the cumulative death toll to 14,527.

The daily count of cases rose from 10,057 to 12,615, an increase of 25.44 per cent in the last 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate also surged to 26.60 from 24.10 per cent the previous day.

According to the state command control room, 47,420 samples were tested during the last 24 hours.

Chittoor district reported the highest number of cases at 2,338 followed by Visakhapatnam (2,117), Guntur (1,066), Vizianagaram (1,039), and Nellore (1,012).

Meanwhile, the active cases in the state surged to 53,871 from 44,935 on Wednesday.

The 24-hour period also saw 3,674 people recovering from the virus, taking the total recoveries to 20,71,658.

The number of daily Covid tests has been rising sharply for the last four days after Sankranti festival.

Health authorities had already warned that Covid cases may increase sharply after Sankranti as the festival season sees huge movement of people.

The night curfew, imposed as part of the measures taken by the state government to curb the spread, came into force across the state from Tuesday. Authorities are strictly enforcing the night curfew from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.