Seven more persons succumbed to the virus, four in Prakasam and three Nellore on Saturday, pushing up the toll in the districts to 51, while 544 patients-- 278 in SPSR Nellore district and 266 -- tested positive for the disease in the last 24 hours.
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The new SPSR Nellore District Collector, K.V.N.Chakradhara Babu, said the next 45 days were crucial in the fight against the viral disease. The hospital bed strength would be enhanced to 5,000 in the district which saw three more deaths on Saturday taking the number to 21. The tally in the district stands at 1,995.
Testing capacity
The testing capacity would be increased to cover 4,000 persons per day from the present 1500, he said. Village volunteers had to be on their toes identifying early those with symptoms of the disease, he said during an interaction with them in Inamadugu village on Saturday.
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Mobile testing bus
Flagging off a mobile testing bus “Sanjeevini” on Saturday, Prakasam District Collector P.Bhaskar underscored the need for more and more people getting tested voluntarily as early testing and treatment were imperative in saving lives. At a time 10 persons could be tested from the reworked RTC bus which would visit every nook and corner of the district to conduct the test free of cost, he said.
Referring to the surge in deaths, he said many of the victims had comorbidities. They had also approached the hospitals late. He also attributed the spurt in the number of positive cases to migrants from other high-risk States returning to the district once the nation-wide lockdown was relaxed.
Fresh cases came from across Prakasam district including Ongole, Kandukur, Kanigiri, Mamidipalem, Lingamsamudram, Angirekulapadu, Pakala, Markapur, Tangutur, Giddalur, Idupulapadu, Peddaraveedu, Donakonda, Garladhinne, Yerragondapalem, Mogilicherla, Chirala and Chimakurthy.