HYDERABAD: The Covid-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc in Andhra Pradesh with the state registering 9,393 cases on Friday, taking the overall cases to 3.34 Lakh. With healthcare infrastructure being tested to its limits, this Telugu-speaking state is registering an average of 10,000 cases on a daily basis. Andhra Pradesh stands second to Maharashtra in reporting the largest number of corona-positive cases.
On one hand as the country’s recovery rate continues to improve, Andhra Pradesh is witnessing a rise in Covid-19 fatalities. With 91 deaths on Friday, the state crossed 3,000 Covid-10 deaths and the infection rate increased to 10.58 per cent. The worst affected district remains East Godavari. To meet the needs of raising cases in Andhra, the government has increased the number of hospitals catering exclusively to Covid-19 cases from 138 to 287 after a review meeting with the CM Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy. The CM said, “More doctors and specialists should be made available as soon as possible. The pay of temporary staff recruited for sanitary work should be increased and the hospitals should have the basic infrastructure and rating should be given as per the performance of the hospitals.” The CM further ordered that Covid-19 call centres and help desks in hospitals should function efficiently. In the neighbouring state of Telangana too, Covid-19 cases are rising with total positive cases reaching one lakh mark and 1,967 cases being reported in the last 24 hours. But the samples tested per million remain only 22,863. The CCMB study creates tension among Hyderabadis since it stated 6 lakh people in the city may be affected. Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan expressed concern over the numbers released by CCMB. Soundararajan, a doctor herself, stressed the need to conduct adequate numbers of Covid-19 tests in the state, saying eradication of the virus would be difficult without sufficient testing.