Prakasam saw a steep rise in daily tally as at least 90 persons tested positive for the viral disease in the last 24 hours.
Friday’s cases pushed up the count to 752 in the district with Ongole accounting for a maximum of 176 cases, followed by Chirala with 96 cases and Markapur with 93 cases, according to a health bulletin released by the district administration.
Three of the new cases pertained to persons who had returned to the district from neighbouring Tamil Nadu, while two others from Telangana. One patient had returned from Karnataka.
Meanwhile, at least 1,970 persons tested negative for the disease. Test reports of 1,796 persons were still awaited.
In view of the spurt in fresh cases, total lockdown was implemented in the 39 very active clusters and 62 active clusters. All roads leading to Srinagar colony, Nirmal Nagar, Lawyerpeta, and Vijayanagar colony were sealed where new cases were registered.
Alarmed over the rapid spread of the virus, District Collector P. Bhaskar asked the medical staff to compulsorily test all those aged below 10 and above 60 in the containment zones, and symptomatic persons in the buffer zones.
The health officials scrambled to identify all the primary and secondary contacts of the infected persons to shift them to quarantine centres. So far, 13,216 were put on institutional quarantine and 1,567 persons under home isolation.
The tally in Nellore district rose to 881 with 32 new cases being reported on Friday, according to a health bulletin issued by the district administration. While the city accounted for 25 cases, Kavali recorded four and Marripadu and Varikuntapadu one each. A person hailing from Kandukur in Prakasam district also tested positive for the disease here.
