There was no respite for people from COVID-19 scourge in South Coastal Andhra Pradesh as 11 more persons succumbed to the pandemic and over 2,900 persons got infected in a span of 24 hours.
The toll rose to 1,281 in the region as seven patients died in SPSR Nellore district and four in Prakasam district in the last 24 hours ending 9 a.m. on Tuesday, according to a health bulletin. So far, 631 patients in SPSR Nellore district and 650 in Prakasam district had died.
Health professionals had a tough time in treating the patients as the number of active cases touched the 25,000-mark, as 1,160 persons in SPSR Nellore district and 1,741 in Prakasam district tested positive for the virus. With this, the overall cases tally crossed the 1.62 lakh mark in the region including 85,780 in SPSR Nellore district.
Doctors and nurses, who worked overtime, had some satisfaction as 1,462 patients got cured during the period.
Meanwhile, a pall of gloom descended on Moolapet area in Nellore city, where chief priest of the famous Rukmini Samedha Venugopala Swamy temple Sampath Kumar Acharyulu died of COVID.
Distressing scenes
Rush at the Government General Hospital in Ongole continued with patients and their relatives anxiously waiting for allotment of beds. A 50-year-old man and his wife were seen weeping inconsolably as they lost their 30-year-old son to the virus.
Alarmed over the rapid rise in fresh cases, SPSR Nellore Collector K.V.N. Chakradhar Babu held a video conference with mandal level officials to handle the health situation more efficiently. He exhorted the medical staff to ensure results of the tested persons within 24 hours. COVID-19 Care Centres should be run in all the mandals to provide better treatment to patients as home isolation of the positive cases contributed to further increase in fresh cases.
In a noble gesture, a group of persons in Kumarole, performed the funeral of one of their friends who died of COVID, as relatives failed to take the body of their deceased friend.
