Vizag records over 100 COVID-19 cases in single day, tally crosses 1200

In its sharpest spike yet, Vizag, on Saturday, reported over 100 new COVID-19 cases in a span of 24 hours for the first time. As per Special COVID-19 Officer for Visakhapatnam, Dr PV Sudhakar, the district recorded 102 new cases to take the tally to 1238. The COVID-19 Visakhapatnam status report released this evening revealed that while 782 cases are active, 449 patients have been discharged so far. The death toll stood at 7.

The report further mentioned that Haripalem, Saripalem, SKML Nagar, Gavarapalem Anakapalle, Kallupakalu, Kagithalavari Veedhi, Ananthavaram, and Godari Gothulu have been identified as the new containment clusters in Visakhapatnam. While 79 of the total clusters have been marked as very active, 114 have been categorised under active. 60 clusters have been tagged dormant while 30 have been denotified so far.

Visakhapatnam reported its first COVID-19 cases on 19 March, when a man who had returned to the city from Saudi Arabia tested positive for the virus. While June witnessed as many as 787 cases, July has already recorded 262 cases in three days so far.

As COVID-19 cases continue to grow in Vizag, expert and doctors have been reiterating the significance of following safety precautions while venturing out. Wearing masks, maintaining physical distance, and sanitising hands regularly remain to be the most effective ways of minimising the risk of contracting the novel coronavirus. The district and city authorities are also actively working on measures to contain the spread of the virus, especially in the areas identified as containment clusters.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 tally in Andhra Pradesh crossed the 17,000 mark with 765 new cases being reported on Saturday.