711 more persons test positive for COVID-19

Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 detections rose to 648,410 after 711 persons tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday.

According to the Department of Government Information, all patients detected yesterday were from the New Year cluster.

The previous day, 751 persons from the New Year cluster tested positive for COVID-19. The Health Promotion Bureau states that 5,432 PCR tests and 2,896 rapid antigen tests were conducted on Wednesday.

In total, 543,225 patients from the New Year cluster, 82,785 patients from the Peliyagoda cluster, 9,154 patients from the Prisons cluster and 3,059 patients from the Divulapitiya cluster have been detected.

The country’s imported cases include 7,234 Sri Lankan returnees from overseas and 328 foreigners.

According to the Epidemiology Unit, 134,901 persons from Colombo, 112,508 persons from Gampaha, 57,376 persons from Kalutara, 43,313 persons from Galle, and 30,813 persons from Kurunegala have tested positive for COVID-19 to date.

During the third wave of the pandemic, 102,604 patients from Colombo, 93,974 patients from Gampaha, and 50,318 patients from Kalutara were detected.

At present, 22,638 persons are under medical or home-based care and 1,019 persons suspected of having COVID-19 are under observation.

The Epidemiology Unit states that 193 persons were released from care yesterday, raising the country’s COVID-19 recoveries to 609,485.