Amaravati, Jan 21 (IANS): The daily Covid-19 positivity rate in Andhra Pradesh climbed to nearly 30 per cent on Friday Thursday while active cases surged to over 64,000.

The state reported 13,212 cases and five deaths during 24-hour period ending on 10 a.m Friday.

Visakhapatnam district accounted for three deaths while Chittoor and Nellore reported a death each. The cumulative death toll mounted to 14,532.

Authorities conducted 44,516 Covid tests during the 24-hour period. The daily positivity rate jumped to 29.67 per cent from 26.60 per cent the previous day.

According to the state command control room, the number of active cases surged to 64,136 from 53,871 on Thursday.

Visakhapatnam district has highest number of active cases at 13,020 followed by Chittoor (10,446) and Guntur (5,284).

Visakhapatnam district reported the highest number of cases at 2,244 followed by Chittoor (1,585), Anantapur (1,235), Srikakulam (1,230), Guntur (1,054), Nellore (1,051) and Kurnool (961).

The 24-hour period also saw 2,942 people recovering from the virus, taking the total recoveries to 20,74,600.

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

Meanwhile, the state Cabinet on Friday reviewed the Covid situation in the wake of the third wave. The meeting discussed measures taken for containing the spread and vaccinations to ensure zero deaths.