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By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya
Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 detections rose to 533,860 with the detection of 555 COVID-19 patients yesterday.
According to health officials, 554 patients detected yesterday were from the New Year cluster and one was an overseas arrival. The Health Promotion Bureau states that 4,153 PCR tests were conducted yesterday.
On Wednesday, 6,518 PCR tests and 3,635 rapid antigen tests were conducted. The 539 COVID-19 detections on Wednesday include 533 persons from the New Year cluster, four persons from the Prisons cluster and two Sri Lankan overseas arrivals.
The Epidemiology Unit states that 429,232 patients have been detected from the New Year cluster and 9,036 patients have been detected from the Prisons cluster. The country’s local cases also include 82,785 persons from the Peliyagoda cluster and 3,059 persons from the Divulapitiya cluster.
Sri Lanka’s imported cases include 6,951 Sri Lankans and 328 foreigners.
The district distribution of COVID-19 patients shows 112,299 patients from Colombo, 94,607 patients from Gampaha, 51,753 patients from Kalutara, 32,605 patients from Galle, and 25,774 patients from Kurunegala.
During the third wave of the pandemic, 80,002 persons from Colombo, 76,073 persons from Gampaha, and 44,695 persons from Kalutara tested positive for COVID-19.
The Epidemiology Unit yesterday amended the number of active cases in the country, stating that 8,919 persons including those from the Tri-Forces, Police, and prisons who had completed home-based care without requiring hospitalisation between 12 October and 20 October were deducted from the total.
At present, 17,834 persons are under medical or home-based care and 2,160 persons suspected of having COVID-19 are under observation.
The country’s COVID-19 recoveries rose to 502,464 with 392 persons released from care yesterday. Meanwhile, Sri Jayewardenepura University Immunology and Molecular Biology Department Head Dr. Chandima Jeewandara yesterday said on Twitter that the Delta Plus variant has not yet been detected in the samples studied by the university’s laboratory.