541 new COVID patients; 4 more deaths

•  Govt. to cremate unclaimed bodies of COVID-19 dead at State expense
• 6,204 persons remain in mandatory quarantine at 58 centres 
• Nearly 150 Sri Lankans repatriated from Abu Dhabi, Germany and Qatar

By Asiri Fernando

A total of 541 persons tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, increasing the second wave tally to 20,883, whilst the death toll increased by 4 to 122.

Majority of the new patients were contacts of the Peliyagoda Fish Market cluster. The other cluster in the second wave is Divulapitiya.

A total of 6,482 infected patients remain under treatment at 59 hospitals and treatment centres, with the highest number of patients, being treated at the Punani treatment centre, in Batticaloa the Epidemiology Unit of the Ministry of Health said. As of last morning, 17,599 patients had recovered out of the cumulative total of 23,438 infected patients reported, the National Operations Centre for the Prevention of COVID-19 (NOCPC) said. 

Colombo and Gampaha districts continue to lead the national tally of COVID-19 patients with 8,954 and 5,865 patients reported from reach district respectively, the Epidemiology Unit said.   

According to the NOCPC, a total of 6,204 persons are undergoing the mandatory quarantine program at 58 quarantine centres managed by the armed forces. A total of 12,031 PCR test had been conducted on Monday. 558 patients who recovered had been discharged from treatment and returned home on Monday, the NOCPC added. In a related development the Government yesterday decided to cremate the remains of those deceased due to COVID-19 which have not been claimed or has been refused by family at the State’s expense.

The Government directed that funds from the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) to be used for the task, DMC Director Administration Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Sudantha Ranasinghe said. 

A total of 149 Sri Lankan was repatriated from three countries, the NOCPC said. The group included 49 returnees from Abu Dhabi, 5 from Germany and 95 from Doha, Qatar. All repatriated persons were moved in to quarantine centres after being subjected to PCR tests at the airport.