With Over 30,000 COVID Cases In 3 Days, Andhra Overtakes Delhi To Become Third-Worst Hit State
On Wednesday, for the first time, Andhra Pradesh had recorded more than 10,000 new cases of COVID-19 infections in a day.
The numbers are only getting worse and in the two days that followed the number of new cases has only spiked and in the past 24 hours, Andhra added 10,376 more COVID-19 infections, the highest single-day spike yet.
With over 30,000 coronavirus cases in the last three days, the state's COVID-19 tally currently stands at 1,40,933, including 1,349 deaths.?
The southern state has the third-highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.?
Delhi, which for weeks was on the third spot has slipped to the fourth and has a total of 1,35,598 confirmed cases so far.
The sudden spike in the number of new cases has also pushed Andhra Pradesh¡¯s infection positivity rate increased to 7.22 per cent.
But unlike in Delhi where the active cases are less than 11,000 the number of active cases in Andhra is 75,720.
In fact, the state has the second-highest number of active cases in India after Maharashtra.
Also on Friday, the state registered 3,822 discharges and 68 deaths, taking the total number of discharges and death toll to 63,864 and 1,349 respectively. As per the state government¡¯s data, it has completed 19,51,776 tests so far at the rate of 36,550 per million population.
The sudden spike in the number of cases has come as a setback to the state's plans to resume tourism activities from August onwards.?
As per the state government's plans, temple tourism plans for Tirupati, Simhachalam, Dwaraka and tourism packages to Tirupati, Kanipakam and Sri Kalahasti would resume from the first week of August.
The state government headed by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is all set to unveil a new tourism policy, and is hoping that the sector will boost the revenues that have been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown.
Apart from a long coastline, the state is planning to capitalise on the abundance of tourist spots which are yet to be exploited fully. The rivers such as Godavari, Krishna and Penna are to be harnessed for tourism promotion while forests like Araku, Paderu and Yallamala and Horsley Hills will be developed as eco-tourism hubs in public-private partnership mode, the minister said.
