554 persons test positive for COVID-19

• 7,024 PCR tests conducted on Thursday
• Total COVID-19 detections rise to 582,149
• Includes 477,436 persons from New Year cluster
• 8,790 persons under medical or home-based care

By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya

Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 case count rose to 582,149 with the detection of 554 COVID-19 positive persons yesterday.

The patients detected yesterday were from the New Year cluster. The Health Promotion Bureau states that 7,024 PCR tests were conducted yesterday.

The previous day, 7,367 PCR tests and 4,722 rapid antigen tests were conducted and 673 persons tested positive for COVID-19. The detections include 672 persons from the New Year cluster and one Sri Lankan overseas returnee.

According to the Epidemiology Unit, 477,436 patients from the New Year cluster, 82,785 patients from the Peliyagoda cluster, 9,062 patients from the Prisons cluster and 3,059 patients from the Divulapitiya cluster have been detected to date.

The country’s imported cases include 7,011 Sri Lankan overseas returnees and 328 foreigners.

In terms of the district distribution of COVID-19 detections, 116,926 persons from Colombo, 100,766 persons from Gampaha, 53,686 persons from Kalutara, 37,525 persons from Galle, and 28,481 persons from Kurunegala have tested positive for COVID-19.

COVID-19 detections, during the third wave of the pandemic, include 84,629 persons from Colombo, 82,232 persons from Gampaha, and 46,628 persons from Kalutara.

At present, 8,790 persons are under medical or home-based care and 2,138 persons suspected of having COVID-19 are under observation.

The Epidemiology Unit states that 301 persons were released from care yesterday, raising the country’s COVID-19 recoveries to 558,527.