People above 60 years in Andhra told not to step out as COVID cases soar

The Andhra Pradesh government has advised people above the age of 60 years not to step outside, given the COVID-19 situation in the state. With the cases soaring to worrying levels, the government has said that elderly people, especially those suffering from chronic ailments such as high blood pressure, diabetes, lung disorders, cancer, etc, must not venture out into the public to minimise the risk of contracting the virus. The people falling under this high-risk category have been told to observe home quarantine for a minimum period of one month.

While citizens over the age of 60 years have already been cautioned by the authorities, the recent surge in COVID cases in Andhra Pradesh has once again underlined the need to safeguard the elderly from the deadly virus. District authorities have also been focussing on testing people from the high-risk categories, residing in containment clusters.

Andhra Pradesh, on Thursday, recorded its sharpest single-day spike yet in terms of the new COVID-19 cases. As per the Depart of Health, Medical, and Family Welfare Department, Andhra Pradesh recorded as many as 7988 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours to take the count to 72,711 on 23 July. While 34,272 cases were marked active last evening, 37,555 individuals were discharged (including the 5428 individuals discharged yesterday) after recovering. The death toll surged to 884 with 61 more patients succumbing to the infection.

East Godavari, with 1391 new cases, reported the highest number of COVID-19 positives in a single day, followed by Guntur (1184) and Anantapur (1016).  Between Wednesday and Thursday, 58,052 samples were tested across Andhra Pradesh. While 32,434 samples were tested via VRDL, Truenat, NACO collectively, 25,618 samples were tested using the Rapid Antigen Test kits.