Amaravati, May 9 (TIWN) Andhra Pradesh saw a big surge in Covid fatalities and new cases during the 24-hour period ending 9 a.m. on Saturday.

The virus claimed 96 lives during this period while 20,065 new cases were detected in this 24-hour cycle.  The fresh fatalities pushed the state's cumulative death toll to 8,615, while its overall case tally rose to 12,65,439.  West Godavari district accounted for the maximum deaths (14), followed by 12 in Visakhapatnam, 10 each in Anantapur and Guntur, nine each in East Godavari and Vizianagaram, seven each in Kurnool and Nellore, six in Chittoor, five in Kadapa, four in Krishna and three in Srikakulam.  According to state health officials, the government and private laboratories in the state tested 1,01,571 samples during the 24-hour period. The state has so far conducted 1,72,62,441 tests.  The period also saw 19,272 people recovering from the virus, taking the state's total number of recoveries to 10,69,432.  The number of active cases in the state now stands at 1,87,392.