Telangana, Andhra see big surge in daily Covid cases

Hyderabad, Jan 8:  Telangana reported 2,606 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, an increase of 15 per cent over the previous day's tally.

Two more persons succumbed to the virus during the last 24 hours ending 5.30 p.m. Saturday. The cumulative death toll rose to 4,041 in the state.

The number of Covid infections on January 1 stood at 311 and since then the state has been witnessing a big surge.

Nearly 65 per cent of cases reported on Saturday were from Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. The neighbouring urban district of Medchal Malkajgiri (292) and Rangareddy (214) stood at second and third place respectively.

The cases were also on the rise in districts like Karimnagar, Mahabubabad, Mahabubnagar, Mancherial, Nagarkurnool and Sangareddy.

The 24-hour period also saw 285 people recovering from the virus. However, with new cases far outnumbering the cases recovered, the recovery rate dipped further to 97.65 per cent.

The active cases also rose sharply to 12,180 from 9,861 the day before.

The health authorities conducted 73,156 tests during last 24 hours. The cumulative test number crossed three crore.

Meanwhile, the vaccination coverage of children in the age group of 15-18 years rose to 37 on Saturday. Out of 18.41 lakh children in the group, 6.81 lakh have taken the first dose since the drive began on January 3.

The state, which has already achieved 100 per cent vaccination of first dose, is still struggling to improve the coverage of the second dose. This percentage remains at 72. According to officials about 24 lakh people are due for second dose.

Meanwhile, neighbouring Andhra Pradesh logged 839 new Covid cases during the last 24 hours ending 10 a.m. Saturday. Two persons died of pandemic during the same period, pushing the toll to 14,503.

Health officials said a total of 37,553 samples were tested during 24-hour.