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Friday Apr 26, 2024
Tuesday, 12 October 2021 02:33 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya
Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 detections rose to 527,064 with the detection of 681 COVID-19 positive persons yesterday.
This is the first time daily COVID-19 detections have dropped below 700 since 22 April, when 672 persons tested positive for COVID-19.
The COVID-19 cases detected yesterday were from the New Year cluster. According to the Health Promotion Bureau, 5,299 PCR tests were conducted yesterday.
The previous day, 7,073 PCR tests and 3,343 rapid antigen tests were conducted with 720 persons testing positive for COVID-19. According to the Epidemiology Unit, the detections include 684 persons from the New Year cluster and 36 persons from the Prisons cluster.
A total of 422,435 patients have been linked to the New Year cluster and 8,918 patients have been linked to the Prisons cluster. The country’s local cases also include 82,785 persons from the Peliyagoda cluster and 3,059 persons from the Divulapitiya cluster.
The imported cases include 6,944 Sri Lankans and 328 foreigners.
The district distribution of COVID-19 patients shows 111,441 detections from Colombo, 93,342 detections from Gampaha, 51,365 detections from Kalutara, 32,080 detections from Galle, and 25,364 detections from Kurunegala.
During the third wave of the pandemic, 79,144 persons from Colombo, 74,808 persons from Gampaha, and 44,307 persons from Kalutara tested positive for COVID-19.
At present, 33,211 persons are under medical or home-based care and 1,710 persons suspected of having COVID-19 are under observation.
The Epidemiology Unit states that 402 persons were released from care yesterday, raising the country’s COVID-19 recoveries to 480,499.
According to Colombo Municipal Council Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Ruwan Wijayamuni, several people in Colombo are on the streets and do not wear a face mask or do not wear it properly so it covers the nose and mouth. He said this was seen during an observation visit to Fort and Pettah yesterday.
“Since 12 March last year, 25,833 COVID-19 patients have been detected from Colombo city. Of this, 1,098 have passed away from COVID-19. As a percentage, 7% of the total COVID-19 infections and 5% of COVID-19 deaths are from Colombo city,” Dr. Wijayamuni said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Director of Health Services Dr. Hemantha Herath said: “There is a higher chance of an increase in infections within an environment where certain measures taken to prevent the spread of the disease have been relaxed.
“The one thing to do in this situation is to follow health guidelines.”
