Saturday Dec 14, 2024
Saturday Dec 14, 2024
Wednesday, 7 July 2021 00:15 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya
The country’s COVID-19 detections rose to 267,433 yesterday with 934 persons testing positive for COVID-19.
However, the Health Promotion Bureau data shows that only 5,631 PCR tests were carried out yesterday.
Health officials have explained the drop in testing and detections were a result of trade union action that affected COVID-19 control measures. According to Health Ministry Media Spokesperson Dr. Hemantha Herath, the drop in detections can in no way be used as a reason to further relax movement restrictions as the numbers do not reflect the actual COVID-19 situation in the country.
However, following discussions with Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi, the 14 trade unions in the health sector who stepped away from duties until 14 demands were met yesterday ended the trade union action.
Public Health Inspectors Union President Upul Rohana yesterday said essential services would begin yesterday itself while COVID-19 related duties would begin at midnight.
According to Cabinet Co-Spokesman Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has made a promise to resolve these issues in a manner that is fair to all trade unions.
In addition to this, Dr. Hemantha Herath yesterday warned of a spread of the Delta variant, saying: “I have repeatedly said there could be more patients. The detection of one patient means there could be thousands of patients by now.”
A total of 19 COVID-19 patients have been detected as having the highly transmissible Delta variant that originated from India.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) yesterday warned of an increase in COVID-19 patients in two weeks.
“In two weeks, there is a likelihood that for every 100 persons who contract the disease, five persons will experience complications and, of this, 2% could die,” SLMA President Dr. Padma Gunaratne said, adding that a failure to adhere to safety guidelines could lead the country to the situation faced by India.
According to the Epidemiology Unit, 919 persons who tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday were linked to the New Year cluster. This brings the cumulative patient count of the Divulapitiya, Peliyagoda, Prisons and New Year clusters to 259,669.
This includes 165,709 persons from the New Year cluster, 82,785 persons from the Peliyagoda cluster, 7,187 persons from the prisons cluster, and 3,059 persons from the Divulapitiya cluster.
In addition to this, 5,517 Sri Lankan overseas returnees and 328 foreigners have also tested positive for COVID-19.
The categorisation of COVID-19 patients takes into account the 869 COVID-19 patients detected on Monday, of which 812 were from the New Year cluster, 53 were Sri Lankan returnees from overseas and four were from the Prisons cluster.
Among the patients detected on Monday were 98 persons from Kalutara, 97 persons from Nuwara Eliya, 83 persons from Gampaha, 80 persons from Badulla, and 66 persons from Monaragala.
In total, 62,592 persons from Colombo, 47,051 persons from Gampaha, 29,605 persons from Kalutara, 14,267 persons from Kurunegala, and 13,555 persons from Kandy have tested positive for COVID-19. During the third wave of the pandemic, 30,295 persons from Colombo, 28,517 persons from Gampaha, and 22,547 persons from Kalutara have contracted the virus.
At present, 27,506 persons are under medical care and 1,033 persons are being monitored over suspicions of having contracted the virus.
The Epidemiology Unit states that 1,717 persons were discharged from hospitals yesterday, bringing the country’s COVID-19 recoveries to 236,659.
