• Lowest daily COVID-19 detections since 1 May; PCR testing drops to 16,934
• New Year cluster exceeds 155,000 patients
• Over 5,100 SL overseas arrivals have tested positive
• Total patient count rises to 257,225, includes 30,769 active patients

By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya

Sri Lanka yesterday recorded the lowest number of daily COVID-19 detections since 1 May, with 1,717 persons testing positive.

On 1 May, 1,716 COVID-19 patients were detected and daily detections have risen as high as 3,600 since then. However, the low number of detections can be attributed at least in part to reduced testing. According to the Health Promotion Bureau, only 16,934 PCR tests were performed yesterday.

The patients detected yesterday include 1,709 persons from New Year cluster. This brings the cumulative patient count of the Divulapitiya, Peliyagoda, Prisons and New Year clusters to 249,828.

This includes 155,236 persons from the New Year cluster, 82,785 persons from the Peliyagoda cluster, 7,029 persons from the Prisons cluster, and 3,059 persons from the Divulapitiya cluster.

In addition to the local cases, 5,157 Sri Lankan returnees from overseas and 328 foreigners have also tested positive for COVID-19 in the country.

This includes 1,822 persons from the New Year cluster, 40 Sri Lankan overseas returnees and 28 persons from the Prisons cluster who tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday.

In total, 1,890 COVID-19 patients were detected on Monday, of which 337 were from Gampaha, 268 were from Kalutara, 198 were from Ratnapura, 194 were from Colombo, and 138 were from Galle.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka, 61,147 persons from Colombo, 44,730 persons from Gampaha, 28,356 persons from Kalutara, 13,694 persons from Kurunegala, and 13,224 persons from Kandy have tested positive for COVID-19.

During the third wave alone, 28,850 patients from Colombo, 26,196 patients from Gampaha and 21,298 patients from Kalutara have been detected.

In total, 257,225 persons have tested positive for COVID-19 in the country.

At present, 30,769 persons are undergoing medical treatment and 1,213 persons suspected of having COVID-19 are under observation at various treatment centres.

The Epidemiology Unit states that 2,222 persons were discharged from hospitals yesterday, bringing the country’s COVID-19 recoveries to 223,471.

COVID-19 death toll crosses 3,000 with 45 more deaths