36 COVID-19 fatalities confirmed

Health officials confirmed 36 COVID-19 fatalities on Sunday, raising the country’s COVID-19 death toll to 15,844.

Thirty COVID-19 fatalities confirmed on Sunday were over 60 years and six fatalities were between 30 and 59 years. Zero COVID-19 fatalities were confirmed from the under-30 age group on Sunday.

According to the Epidemiology Unit, 76.23% of the total COVID-19 deaths are over 60 years, 22.46% are between 30 and 59 years, and 1.3% are below 30 years.

Twenty COVID-19 fatalities confirmed on Sunday were male and 16 were female. Of the total COVID-19 deaths, 8,920 are male and 6,924 are female.

Meanwhile, Deputy Director of Health Services Dr. Hemantha Herath said the rise in COVID-19 fatalities is due to asymptomatic patients unknowingly infecting other persons.

“There has been an increase in the COVID-19 fatalities reported in the past few days. The main reason for this is an issue with the total number of COVID-19 patients as there are times where asymptomatic COVID-19 patients unintentionally infect persons with weakened immune systems,” he said.