Daily Covid cases cross 3,000-mark in Andhra Pradesh

Amaravati: The daily load of fresh Covid-19 cases in the state increased beyond 3,000 after a five-month gap as the state logged 3,309 in 24 hours ending 9 am on Saturday, taking the overall positives to 9,21,906.

The state saw 12 deaths, the highest day count in more than five months, while 1,053 patients recovered from the infection.

The total recoveries now touched 8,95,949 and toll 7,291, a health department bulletin said.

The number of active cases rose to 18,666, it added.

Chittoor district registered the largest number of 740 new Covid-19 cases and three deaths in 24 hours.

The temple town of Tirupati alone accounted for 319 fresh cases, triggering panic as electioneering for the Lok Sabha by-election is now on.

So much so that Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy announced on Saturday that he was cancelling his proposed election meeting in Tirupati on April 14 due to the spurt in coronavirus cases in both Chittoor and SPS Nellore districts, in which the Lok Sabha segment is spread over.

Guntur district added 528, Visakhapatnam 391, Kurnool 296, Srikakulam 279, Krishna 278, Prakasam 174, Nellore and Anantapur 133 each, Kadapa 124 and East Godavari 111 fresh cases in a day.

Vizianagaram reported 97 and West Godavari 26 new cases.

Two Covid-19 patients each died in Nellore, Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam districts and one each in Anantapur, Guntur and Krishna.

Srikakulam district reported Covid-19 deaths after a gap of more than three months.