Andhra Pradesh has reported three more COVID-19 deaths and 43 fresh cases after 8,388 new samples were tested. Telangana reported 31 fresh cases and one death. In Kerala, two expatriates who returned by the first evacuation flights on May 7 tested positive.
Also read:Coronavirus | Telangana government extends lockdown till May 29
The tally in Andhra Pradesh touched 1,930 while the toll mounted to 44. At the same time, 45 patients had recovered, leaving 999 active patients under treatment. So far 887 had recovered and been discharged.
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The recovery rate among patients was going up. While about 52% were under treatment, about 46% had recovered and were discharged. About 2% succumbed to the virus.
Meanwhile, officials said more samples were being tested and there was a downward trend in fresh cases, reducing the daily positivity rate. The overall positivity rate in the State was 1.169% on Saturday and the positivity rate for tests carried out the previous day was 0.51%.
Of fresh cases, Krishna district reported 16 cases and Chittoor 11 cases while Kurnool had six and Visakhapatnam five cases. Anantapur had three and Guntur two cases.
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Two expatriates, who returned to Kerala on May 7 and who were in COVID care hospitals after they showed mild symptoms, tested positive for COVID-19, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.
While one person had come by the Dubai-Kozhikode flight, the other arrived by the Abu Dhabi-Kochi flight. They were being treated at Kozhikode and Kochi.
Mr. Vijayan said that the confirmation of COVID-19 in expatriates showed that the State had to renew its vigil and strengthen containment measures.
The two travellers on special flights had taken a rapid antibody test. The State had tested passengers using RT-PCR to find active infection.
Kerala now had a total of 505 cases, of which 17 were under treatment.
The Kerala government imposed a total lockdown on Sunday. Hospitals, laboratories, medical stores, milk distribution, hotels offering takeaway or home delivery, garbage collectors, and other essential services were exempted.
Citizens would require a pass from the police or District Collector for travelling.
Total cases in Karnataka rose to 794 with 41 new ones added on Saturday, and the State had tested 1,03,098 samples. The State now had 32 ICMR-approved testing labs, including 11 private labs. Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar tweeted, “We are boosting our testing capacity to have 60 labs by end of this month and will be able to conduct 10,000 tests per day.”
Saturday’s 41 new cases included 12 from Bengaluru Urban, eight from Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada, six from Davangere, four from Tumakuru, three each from Bantwal in Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga and Bidar, and one each from Chickballapur and Vijayapura.
While most were contacts of previous positive patients, six had travelled to Ahmedabad. In Bengaluru Urban, five were from Hongasandra and the remaining from Padarayanapura.
Telangana’s 31 fresh cases took the total to 1,163 and the death toll to 30. Of the new cases, which included a migrant, 30 were from Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation limits.
The health bulletin said 751 persons were so far treated and discharged, and there were 382 active cases, while 23 were discharged after treatment on Saturday.
Warangal (Rural), Yadadari and Wanaparthy had not reported any cases. Also, 23 districts, including Karimnagar, Sircilla, Kamareddy and Mahabubnagar had no new case in the past 14 days.
526 more cases in T.N.
Tamil Nadu added another 526 cases of COVID-19 to its tally of positive cases on Saturday. The fresh cases were reported in 20 districts, with Chennai leading the table with 279 cases. As the State’s tally of positive cases rose to 6,535, it was pointed out that 1,867 cases were linked to the Koyambedu market cluster.
Four women died of COVID-19 in Chennai and Sivagangai. This took the total deaths due to COVID-19 to 44.
On Friday, 219 persons were discharged from hospitals across the State.
(With inputs from Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru Bureaus)