At 10,000 cases, Andhra Pradesh reports highest single-day Covid-19 cases, southern states' daily tally at 25k infections

CHENNAI: Andhra Pradesh witnessed its worst single day spike of coronavirus on Wednesday, 10,000 plus cases, as the other southern states, including Tamil Nadu and Karnataka also reported high daily numbers, although they saw a dip in the infections.
The cumulative tally of southern states--AP, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry was 24,855 on Wednesday.
Kerala too saw a minor dip in the positive cases, while Telangana and Puducherry saw spikes, with the the union territory recording its highest single-day increase.
Andhra Pradesh, whose COVID-19 numbers have been travelling north in a quick pace for the past few days, registering not less than 7,000 infections, reported 10,093 cases as a result of a record sample size of 70,584.
The state saw 65 new COVID-19 deaths during the period, taking the toll to 1,213.
The infection positivity rate in the state has now shot up to 6.61 per cent while the recovery rate was 46.02 per cent.
Deputy Chief Minister (Health) A K K Srinivas said the prime reason for the severe spurt in number of cases was the "extensive" COVID-19 tests.
According to the latest health bulletin, a total of 2,784 patients got cured and discharged from hospitals, taking the cumulative recoveries to 55,406.
The state now has 63,771 active coronavirus cases.
In terms of per day increase in COVID-19 cases, AP recorded the highest of over 10,000 cases in the country.
Tamil Nadu's infection count rose to 2,34,114 with the addition of 6,426 fresh COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, while the death toll surged to 3,741 with 82 fatalities.
The state reported 546 cases less than Tuesday, when it was 6,972.
The number of recoveries continued to be on the upswing with 5,927 people getting discharged after recovery from hospitals, totalling 1,72,883.
Active cases stood at 57,490.
The recovery rate stood at 73 per cent and fatality rate 1.6 per cent, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said, quoting Tuesday's numbers at a virtual conference of District Collectors and bureaucrats.
Karnataka's overall COVID-19 cases climbed to 1,12,504 on Wednesday with the addition of 5,503 new infections.
The state reported 92 related fatalities, pushing the overall death toll to 2,147, the health department said.
The day also saw 2,397 patients getting discharged after recovery.
This is the sixth consecutive day that the state is reporting over 5,000 fresh cases.
However, there was a minor dip in the cases as compared to Tuesday, when Karnataka saw its biggest single-day spike of 5,536.
With 903 cases, Kerala saw a dip in the infections, a day after reporting its single day peak of 1,167.
The infection tally stood at 21,797, while the toll climbed to 68 with one more death.
As many as 10,351 people were presently under treatment, while 11,369 have recovered so far with 641 discharged on Wednesday, Health Minister K K Shailaja said.
Telangana continued to witness a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases with 1,764 additions and 12 deaths being reported, taking the tally of those who tested positive to the virus to 58,906.
Out of the fresh cases, 509 were reported from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), followed by Medchal-Malkajgiri and Rangareddy districts with 158 and 147 cases respectively, a state government bulletin said on Wednesday, providing data as of 8 PM on July 28.
Puducherry registered 166 fresh cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, the highest single day spurt so far, taking the tally of infections in the union territory to 3,171.
While there were 1,112 active cases, total cases treated and discharged were 1,869 and fatalities remained at 47 as no death was reported in the last 24 hours.