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Saturday, 30 October 2021 01:49 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya
Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 detections rose to 539,416 with the detection of 556 COVID-19 patients yesterday.
The COVID-19 cases detected yesterday are from the New Year cluster and the Health Promotion Bureau states that 5,484 PCR tests were conducted yesterday.
On Thursday, 5,050 PCR tests and 3,892 rapid antigen tests were conducted and 540 COVID-19 patients were detected. All COVID-19 patients detected on Thursday were from the New Year cluster, which has expanded to 434,768 patients.
The Epidemiology Unit states that 82,785 patients have been detected from the Peliyagoda cluster, 9,051 patients have been detected from the Prisons cluster, and 3,059 patients have been detected from the Divulapitiya cluster.
The country’s imported cases include 6,955 Sri Lankans and 328 foreigners.
The district distribution of COVID-19 patients shows 112,905 persons from Colombo, 95,379 persons from Gampaha, 51,963 persons from Kalutara, 33,309 persons from Galle, and 26,028 persons from Kurunegala.
During the third wave of the pandemic, 80,608 persons from Colombo, 76,845 persons from Gampaha, and 44,905 persons from Kalutara tested positive for COVID-19.
At present, 13,545 persons are under medical or home-based care and 2,113 persons suspected of having COVID-19 are under observation.
The Epidemiology Unit states that 302 persons were released from care yesterday, raising country’s COVID-19 recoveries to 512,165. An improvement can be seen in Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 situation, with a drop in daily detections. “We are at a critical juncture in COVID-19 control. There is a high rate of vaccination. After one and a half years, we are reopening schools, starting with primary grades,” Health Promotion Bureau Director Dr. Ranjith Batuwanthudawa said. However, health officials also stress the importance of following health guidelines and wearing face masks, with Primary Health Care, Epidemics and COVID Disease Control State Minister Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle saying, “Over 500 patients are reported daily and 500 can easily become 1,500 if we do not act responsibly.”
