• Total patient count rises to 548,061
• Includes 443,246 persons from New Year cluster
• Third wave detections from Western Province rise to 204,604
• 11,345 persons under medical or home-based care

By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya

Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 detections rose to 548,061 with 715 persons testing positive for COVID-19 yesterday.

The patients detected yesterday were from the New Year cluster.

On Wednesday, 693 persons from the New Year cluster tested positive for COVID-19. The Health Promotion Bureau states that 5,369 PCR tests and 3,920 rapid antigen tests were conducted on Wednesday.

According to the Epidemiology Unit, 443,246 patients from the New Year cluster, 82,785 patients from the Peliyagoda cluster, 9,052 patients from the Prisons cluster, and 3,059 patients from the Divulapitiya cluster have been detected to date.

The country’s imported cases include 6,962 Sri Lankans and 328 foreigners.

The district distribution of COVID-19 patients shows 113,762 persons from Colombo, 96,428 persons from Gampaha, 52,303 persons from Kalutara, 33,841 persons from Galle, and 26,528 persons from Kurunegala.

During the third wave of the pandemic, 81,465 persons from Colombo, 77,894 persons from Gampaha, and 45,245 persons from Kalutara tested positive for COVID-19. At present, 11,345 persons are under medical or home-based care and 2,053 persons suspected of having COVID-19 are under observation.

The Epidemiology Unit states that 272 persons were released from care yesterday, raising the country’s COVID-19 recoveries to 522,789.

• Gazette issued amending regulations on gatherings and events

• 30,020 persons vaccinated against COVID-19

• 19 COVID-19 fatalities confirmed