Over 2,000 persons tested positive for virus in South Coastal Andhra, while eight more patients succumbed to it, all in Nellore, in a span of 24 hours.
The toll rose to 1,339 in the region, with Nellore accounting for 664 deaths and Prakasam for 675, according to a health bulletin released by the State government on Monday night.
For the first time during the second wave, the active caseload rose to 30,694 in the two districts with 1,432 new cases in Nellore and 639 in Prakasam. Unlike during the first wave, more number of youth are contracting the disease now, health officials said.
The overall coronavirus case tally touched the 1.78 lakh-mark as SPSR Nellore district accounted for over 94,000 cases and Prakasam district for the rest. Meanwhile, the inoculation drive is expected to resume only from May 15 on getting the vaccine stocks from the Centre, officials said.
Respiratory problem common
Health officials had a tough time treating the large number of patients, a majority of them having respiratory problem, as the designated COVID-19 hospitals buckled under the pressure.
The Prakasam district administration created temporary sheds at the Government General Hospital in Ongole as scores of patients waited at the reception counter at any given point time for allotment of bed.
The continuous efforts of the health professionals yielded results with little over 1,500 recovering from the disease in the region during the period. The gap between the fresh cases and recoveries narrowed down to about 200 in SPSR Nellore district and 300 in Prakasam district.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people who thronged the session sites to take the shot were a disappointed lot. The ongoing vaccination drive would remain suspended for a few days to prepare a list of persons who had already taken the first dose of vaccine and issue tokens to them to avoid overcrowding at the session sites like during last week.
