The percentage of positive cases registered in Andhra Pradesh is 1.51% against the national average of 3.84%. The death rate is 2.33% against the national average of 3.18%. So far, 88,061 tests have been conducted, and the test per million ratio is 1,649. In the last 24 hours, 7,727 tests have been conducted, 70% of them in the red zones.
At a review meeting on COVID-19 on Wednesday, officials told Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy that 73 cases were recorded in the last 24 hours – 29 in Guntur district, and 27 of them in Narsaraopet alone. Containment measures were being undertaken in a big way there, they said.
Trial tests began at a laboratory set up at RIMS in Srikakulam, and steps were being taken to open a laboratory in Ongole and Nellore, the officials said. These labs would be operational by Saturday. The government opened nine laboratories in eight districts. In addition, 50 TruNat kits were available in the area and teaching hospitals. Mobile labs were getting readied, the officials told the Chief Minister.
When Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy sought to know the status of tests being conducted on people identified in the door-to-door survey, the officials said that 12,247 people underwent the COVID-19 tests and the remaining would be covered in the next three days.
Aid to fishermen
The Chief Minister enquired about the steps being taken to bring back the fishermen stranded at Veraval in Gujarat.
The officials said that 4,065 fishermen were returning to their native places from Gujarat, and that the government was meeting the transportation, food and other expenses of the fishermen. The Chief Minister asked the officials to pay ₹2,000 per person as soon as the fishermen reached their native places.