Andhra Pradesh’s active COVID-19 cases fall below 50,000 for the first time in over two months

There was finally some good news to cheer about in Andhra Pradesh on the COVID-19 front. On June 25, the State’s positivity rate for the day stood at 4.8 per cent, the lowest in more than two months and since the second wave struck.

People waiting to get their COVID-19 vaccine doses at a vaccination centre in Vijayawada on June 25.

There was finally some good news to cheer about in Andhra Pradesh on the COVID-19 front. On June 25, the State’s positivity rate for the day stood at 4.8 per cent, the lowest in more than two months and since the second wave struck. Of the 91,849 cases tested for COVID-19, only 4,458 tested positive. Encouragingly, the entire week ending June 25 also showed a lowering of the State’s test positivity rate, and it now stands at 5.4 per cent. The positivity rate in six of the State’s 13 districts is presently below 5 per cent. Overall, since the advent of the pandemic and the first recorded case in the State on March 12, 2020, Andhra Pradesh’s positivity rate stands at 5.23 per cent. The State has conducted a total of 2.15 crore COVID-19 tests, with a total of 18,71,475 positive cases. The mortality rate stands at 0.67 per cent, with 12,528 deaths.

Reassuringly, the number of active cases in the State also fell below the 50,000 mark for the first time in over two months. The 47,790 active cases recorded on June 25 is the lowest since April 19. In yet another indication of the falling number of cases in the State, the number of calls to the COVID-19 call centre has dropped significantly. The centre received just 1,021 calls on June 25.

Though officials at the Andhra Pradesh State Command Control Room pointed out to Frontline that the State’s recovery rate, at 96.67 per cent, was much better than the national average, they are not prepared to go easy on testing, imposing COVID-19 appropriate behaviour and precautionary measures just yet. They disclosed that steps were being taken to strengthen infrastructure in government hospitals, especially in the rural areas, and ensure that the medicines being provided to patients were of World Health Organisation (WHO) standards. Special attention was also being paid to sanitation in hospitals and the food offered to patients.

Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Health, Family Welfare and Medical Education, announced that the first case of the Delta Plus variant of COVID-19, a variant of concern, was detected at Tirupati on April 4 and has been treated successfully. Officials from the Health Department pointed out that the results of the analysis of the patient from Tirupati, which was conducted at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, arrived on June 24, confirming that it was the Delta Plus variant.

The Minister said the patient and the patient’s primary contacts had been treated and discharged. The State, he stressed, had no active Delta Plus variant cases at present.

According to officials from the Health Department, Andhra Pradesh recorded 3,148 cases of mucormycosis, or black fungus infection, with 237 people perishing to the infection. As many as 1,095 mucormycosis patients have undergone surgeries, with 1,398 patients being discharged after treatment.