Sixty six persons-49 in Prakasam and 17 in Nellore district tested positive for the viral disease in the last 24 hours.
At least 15 of the newly-infected persons in Prakasam district did not have any travel history to hotspots, while the rest were primary and secondary contacts of patients being treated in the isolation ward.
At one stage almost all the patients who had contracted the disease after returning from New Delhi were cured in Ongole. With the disease spreading to remote parts in the district, the number of cumulative cases touched the 446 mark, COVID-19 nodal officer John Richards said.
Journalist tests positive
A three-year-old girl from Parchur as also a boy and girl, both aged three in Chirala, were among the newly-infected persons. A 36-year-old reporter working with a vernacular daily in Markapur and a 19-year-old village volunteer in Dopagunta also contracted the disease.
With six more persons testing positive for the disease, the number of confirmed cases mounted to 97 in Ongole, where all lockdown relaxations were withdrawn.
Three of them residing in Balaji nagar here got infected after visiting Chennai. Two Hyderabad returnees, a 52-year-old man in Ongole and 25-year-old woman from Kandukur, also contracted the disease.
Stringent lockdown was implemented in Ongole with the authorities limiting opening of shops to three hours in the morning. Relaxations announced during Unlock 2.0 were withdrawn in Pernamitta and Gaddalakunta, which reported fresh cases.
All roads leading to Balaji nagar were closed down to prevent movement of people to and from the locality in Ongole. Police personnel enforced lockdown strictly in and around the handloom town of Chirala including Vaikantapuram, Vittal Nagar, Desaipeta, Pandalapalli and Vetapalem as fresh cases took the cumulative cases count to 61. The positive cases count stood at 30 in Kandukur and 28 in Markapur, 18 in Pamur and 14 in Tangutur.
7 cases in Nellore
In Nellore district, the city accounted for seven fresh cases followed Kavali with three new cases. Sullurpeta and Tada, close to Chennai, reported one new case each. So did Ojili, Kaligiri, Indukurpeta.
A person from Srikalahasti also contracted the disease, a report compiled by the District Medical and Health department said here on Saturday night.
