COVID-19: Case filed against TDP chief for creating fear over new Andhra Pradesh strain

Amid the COVID-19 crisis across the country, based on a complaint of advocate Subbaiah, I-Town police in Kurnool has registered a criminal case against TDP national president and Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu under non-bailable sections. In his complaint, the advocate said that Chandrababu Naidu has created fear among the people of Kurnool by saying that the N440K Coronavirus strain is still prevalent and is 15 times more infectious and deadly as compared to other strains. 

However, the TDP district leaders are alleging that the case filed against Chandrababu is based on a false complaint. The party leaders further said that the TDP supremo and national general secretary Nara Lokesh have alerted the Andhra Pradesh government and people on the N440K strain. 

CCMB debunks reports claiming new Andhra Pradesh strain '15 times more virulent'

Earlier on May 5, refuting reports claiming N440K COVID-19 strain was found in Andhra Pradesh, the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) said that the prevalence of ‘N440K variant’, particularly detected in Visakhapatnam, is less than 5 per cent and likely to disappear soon.

Andhra Pradesh COVID cases 

For the third day in a row, Andhra Pradesh reported more than 20,000 cases of coronavirus in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Thursday, pushing the gross to 12,28,186. As many as 1,10,147 tests turned out 21,954 fresh positives in 24 hours, the latest bulletin said.

Also, 10,141 patients had recovered while 72 more succumbed in a day, it said.  The total recoveries now stood at 10,37,411 and toll 8,446. The active caseload was 1,82,329. After a total of 1.70 crore tests, the overall infection positivity rate in the state climbed to 7.15 per cent, slightly more than the national average of 7.05 per cent.

The overall recovery rate slid to 85.16 per cent while the mortality rate remained stable at 0.69 per cent. Over 25,000 Covid-19 patients in hospitals across the state were on oxygen and ventilator support while about 1.25 lakh were in home isolation, as per government data.

(Image: PTI, Pixabay)