The rise in COVID-19 cases in Andhra Pradesh continued on Thursday morning, as another 21 people tested positive, taking the total number of cases in the state up to 132. These 21 positive cases were reported between 10 pm on Wednesday night and 10 am on Thursday.

While the state had earlier recorded a relatively lower number of cases in comparison to neighbouring states, the situation changed drastically as the state recorded 67 new cases on Wednesday. 43 new cases were announced on Wednesday morning and another 24 in the evening. All the new cases that were reported on Wednesday were related to the Jamaat congregation in Delhi. 

In a video conference held between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several Chief Ministers, Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy said that of the 132 cases detected in the state so far, 111 cases are related to the Jamaat. While 91 patients had travelled to Delhi themselves, 20 cases are contacts of those who had attended the meeting. 

As of Thursday morning, Guntur and Nellore districts recorded the highest number of cases (20 each), followed by Prakasam (17), Kadapa (15), Krishna (15) and West Godavari (14). Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts have not reported any cases so far, while Kurnool has only seen one case. Anantapur district has recorded two cases. Chittoor has seen 8 cases, and East Godavari has recorded 9 cases. Visakhapatnam has reported 11 cases so far.  

So far, two patients, the very first one reported from Nellore, and one from Visakhapatnam, have recovered. 

Earlier on Tuesday too, Andhra Pradesh saw a big jump, recording 21 new cases. 18 of these cases were people who attended the Jamaat congregation and their immediate contacts, according to the Medical and Health Department. 

Owing to the high number of COVID-19 cases in Andhra being related to the congregation, the Andhra government has intensified its efforts to quarantine anyone who has attended the event in Delhi.

As of Thursday morning, 1,800 samples in total had been collected for testing in the state. Of these, 226 samples were those of foreign returnees, 130 were of contacts of foreign returnees. The health department has collected samples of 758 people who returned from Delhi, and 543 samples of contacts of those who returned from Delhi, apart from 143 other samples. 

As of Thursday morning, 132 samples have tested positive, and 1,175 samples have tested negative, while the results of 493 samples are still awaited.