The death toll due to coronavirus went up to 1,075 in south coastal districts, with two more patients succumbing to the infection in the last 24 hours.
With one death each being reported in Praksam and Nellore districts, the toll increased to 497 and 578 respectively, said a health bulletin released by the State government on Thursday night. New cases increased slightly to 80 during the period, taking the cumulative tally to 1,24,635. The number of active cases stood at 1,067 during the period as 74 patients recovered. The recovery rate stood at 98.68% with 1,22,990 patients recovering from the illness till date.
The situation was well under control with new infection dropping below the 50-mark in Prakasam district, said DMHO P. Ratnavalli.
The strategy of aggressive testing and isolating positive cases had paid the dividends, she said, adding that close to 6,000 persons are being tested daily with over 100 in each of the public health centres in rural areas and more than 250 patients in each of the health centres in urban areas.
Less than 50 of the over 9,000 students and staff members in educational institutions subjected to testing, had been found positive, she added.
“We have started training of health professionals for administering vaccine and provided the necessary logistic support for the purpose. Administration of vaccine is likely be started by the month-end, giving preference to frontline COVID-19 warriors, she added.
