Vishakhapatnam: The Covid- 19 spike in Andhra Pradesh with the highest single day surge of 7, 998 Covid- 19 +ve cases on Thursday and 61 deaths registered. According to the latest Covid- 19 data released by the state, AP registered the second highest single day spike of cases after Maharashtra, which reported 9, 895 cases on Thursday.

Andhra Pradesh stood Covid- 19 tally in the 5^th position in the country with a case load of 72, 711, behind Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Karnataka. The Covid- 19 graph has been on the upward trend since July 1^st with an unprecented spurt in +ve cases and toll. On July 6^th AP had just 20, 019 cases and was in the 10^th spot.

The Covid- 19 toll increased to 884 but on a positive note, 5, 428 cases recovered from the pandemic and were discharged from hospitals across the state on Thursday only. The high toll is blamed on late reporting by patients to hospitals and comorbidities. The all India recovery rate for Covid- 19 cases is 63.18% at against AP’s 51.65%. The low recovery rate also explains the spurt in the deaths.

There are currently 34, 272 active cases, besides 37, 555 cumulative recoveries and 884 deaths. This translates into a recovery rate of 51.64% in the state. Three districts reported morethan 1K Covid- 19 cases. East Godavari district contributed a record of 1, 391 new cases, taking the tally to 10, 038. It is the first district in the state to cross 10K cases. Guntur registered 1, 184 new cases, Ananthapur 1, 016, Kurnool 904, West Godavari 748, Vishakhapatnam 684, Nellore 438 and Srikakulam 360 cases on Thursday.

Of the 61 deaths on Thursday, 14 were reported from East Godavari, seven each from Guntur and Kurnool districts, six deaths each from Krishna and Srikakulam districts and five each from Vishakhapatnam and Vijayanagaram districts. Three deaths each were reported from Chittoor, West Godavari and Prakasham districts while one each from Kadapa and Ananthapur districts.