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Tuesday, 21 December 2021 03:06 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya
Sri Lanka’s daily COVID-19 detections remained below 700 for the third consecutive day, with 524 persons testing positive for the virus yesterday.
Daily detections have remained above 700 since the end of October but dropped to 695 on 18 December. On Sunday, 551 persons from the New Year cluster tested positive for COVID-19. The Health Promotion Bureau states that 6,504 PCR tests and 3,206 rapid antigen tests were conducted on 19 December.
Yesterday, 5,451 PCR tests were conducted and 524 persons from the New Year cluster tested positive for COVID-19.
In total, 580,209 persons have tested positive for COVID-19 in the country. This includes 475,530 persons from the New Year cluster, 82,785 persons from the Peliyagoda cluster, 9,060 persons from the Prisons cluster and 3,059 persons from the Divulapitiya cluster.
The country’s imported cases include 7,009 Sri Lankan overseas returnees and 328 foreigners.
The Epidemiology Unit states that 116,724 persons from Colombo, 100,521 persons from Gampaha, 53,616 persons from Kalutara, 37,321 persons from Galle, and 28,390 persons from Kurunegala have tested positive for COVID-19.
During the third wave of the pandemic, 84,427 persons from Colombo, 81,987 persons from Gampaha, and 46,558 persons from Kalutara tested positive for COVID-19.
At present, 7,817 persons are under medical or home-based care and 1,940 persons suspected of having COVID-19 are under observation.
The Epidemiology Unit adds that 295 persons were released from care yesterday, raising the country’s COVID-19 recoveries to 557,621.