Vizag COVID-19 Update: Tally crosses 600, one more death reported

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Vizag has surpassed 600, as the district reported 44 new cases on Thursday. As per the update received this evening, 338 cases have been marked active while 277 individuals have been discharged in Vizag so far after testing negative for COVID-19. Another patient succumbed to the infection, taking the death toll 5.

As per the latest COVID-19 update, 3 new containment zones have been identified in Vizag. Jampavari Veedhi, Kakaralova, and Devagula Street- Dondaparthy, have been demarcated as the new containment clusters. The number of very active containment clusters has risen to 49. While 40 clusters fall under the active category, 38 are being considered as dormant. As on Thursday evening, 26 clusters in the district have been denotified after not reporting a new COVID-19 case for the past 28 days.

Given the surge in the COVID-19 cases in Vizag, the authorities have urged the public to follow precautions. The authorities have been organinsing awareness programmes to sensitise the citizens. Furthermore, Visakhapatnam Commissioner of Police Rajeev Kumar Meena on Wednesday announced that wearing protective face masks for all citizens is mandatory. Citizens in Visakhapatnam found stepping out in public without wearing a protective face mask will now be charged a fine of Rs 100 for violating the rule.

On the national front, the tally stands at 4,74,587 confirmed cases as on Thursday. In the wake of the spurt in COVID-19 cases, the Central Government is ramping up its efforts to improve the testing capacity. Speaking in this regard, Professor Balram Bhargava, Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said, “We are continuously working on increasing the testing capacity as it would help us control the virus in an effective way. Today there are over 1000 COVID-19 testing laboratories across the country. ICMR is working towards setting up more number of testing labs in the future.” According to ICMR, there are 730 government labs and 270 private labs in the country, as on Wednesday. While 75,60,782 samples were tested, a total of 2,07,871 individuals were tested in the past 24 hours alone.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh government too has been ramping up its testing strategy. As per the update released by the Health Department this afternoon, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Andhra Pradesh has now surged to 10,884, as 477 samples out of 19,085 samples tested in the past 24 hours turned positive. As of 25 June 2020, 7,69,319 samples were tested across the state.

As per the media bulletin, the newly reported COVID-19 cases include 477 from Andhra Pradesh, 69 from other states, and 7 foreign returnees. The update also revealed that while 7,69,319 samples have been tested for COVID-19 in Andhra Pradesh so far, 8783 individuals from the state, 1730 individuals from other states, and 371 foreign returnees have tested positive for the deadly virus. 5760 cases are currently marked as active.