With 657 new cases, coronavirus tally in Andhra Pradesh crosses 15,000

The COVID-19 tally in Andhra Pradesh rose to 15,252 as 657 individuals tested positive for the virus across the state in a single day. According to the update released by the state’s Health Department on Wednesday afternoon, 611 of the newly reported coronavirus cases are from Andhra Pradesh, while 39 are those who returned from other states, and 7 are foreign returnees. The death toll increased to 193 as Kurnool and Krishna reported 3 deaths each.

A total of 28,239 samples were tested for COVID-19 across Andhra Pradesh in between Tuesday and Wednesday (9 AM to 9 AM). As 342 people were discharged after recovering from the infection in the past 24 hours, the number of recovered individuals climbed to 6,988, as on Wednesday afternoon. With this, the recovery rate of the state increased to 45.81%. Out of the 8,071 active cases in Andhra Pradesh, 6,212 patients are being treated in hospitals and 1,859 are receiving medication in COVID Care Hospitals across the state.

Given the spurt in the coronavirus cases, the Andhra Pradesh state government has been taking measures to track and contain the disease. In order to tackle COVID-19, the state has been conducting tests on a massive scale. As on Wednesday, 9,18,429 samples have been tested in AP.

Taking the testing strategy a notch higher, the AP Health, Medical, and Family Department introduced a free online swab collection system. Through this feature, citizens can simply fix an appointment for swab collection by filling an online form. After providing the required information, a customer service team will call the applicants to set up an appointment. It is to be noted that the facility is operational only in Vijayawada.

Earlier on Wednesday, Andhra Pradesh launched a total of 1088 ambulances and medical units, marking the National Doctorss Day. Equipped with modern life support systems to provide quick and better medical attention, the state government claimed that it’s a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country. The officials said that 26 neo-natal ambulances are also going to be inducted into the fleet of 412 new ‘108’ ambulances, where 104 of them are advanced life support vehicles and 282 are basic life support vehicles.