Prakasam, Nellore record 21 deaths in just a day

For the first time, recovered cases outnumber newly-infected ones

A woman getting tested for COVID-19 in Ongole.

The pandemic continued to wreck havoc in south coastal Andhra as 21 persons-- 11 in Prakasam district and 10 in Nellore district succumbed to the viral disease in the last 24 hours, taking the combined death toll in the two districts to 255.

The cumulative positive cases in Nellore district rose to 15,337 while its death toll stood at 129 and in Prakasam, the tally rose to 9,458 and the toll to 140, as per the bulletin released by the State government on Wednesday night.

However, a positive development was that for the first time, recovered persons outnumbered the newly-infected ones by 362. While 723 cases were reported in Nellore, as many as 843 were recovered and discharged from the hospitals. In Prakasam too, if the number of new cases stood at 343, the number of discharged persons was 585.

A two-week stringent lockdown began on Wednesday in Ongole which witnessed 73 new cases, taking the cumulative cases to 1,875. All shops and business establishments downed the shutters at 9.00 a.m. as against the usual time of 12.00 p.m. as only a three-hour relaxation was allowed by the district administration for purchase of essential commodities in view of the steep rise in COVID-19 deaths and fresh cases. As many as 68 deaths occurred in Prakasam district in less than a week.

‘No medicines without prescription’

Meanwhile, Nellore Collector K.V.N. Chakradhar Babu held a review meeting with representatives of medical shops in the district to ensure that there was no shortage of medicines for patients. Noting with concern the habit of people purchasing medicines for various diseases including fever, cold, cough without a valid prescription from doctors, he said all such persons should be subjected to testing for coronavirus. The representatives of medical shops offered to provide 2,000 medical kits to patients and record the details of persons obtaining medicines without prescription.

The new positive cases continued to pour from across Prakasam district including Jarugumalli(24), J.Pangalur(23), Kandukur(17), Giddalur(16), K.K.Mitla (13), Marripadu(10), Martur(10) and Mundlamur(10).