722 persons test positive for COVID-19

• Total patient count rises to 563,989
• Includes 459,150 persons from New Year cluster
• Western Province detections rise to 266,258
• 9,256 persons under medical or home-based care

 

By Shailendree 

Wickrama Adittiya

Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 case count rose to 563,989 with 722 persons testing positive for COVID-19 yesterday.

The patients detected yesterday include 719 persons from the New Year cluster and three overseas arrivals.

The previous day, 745 persons from the New Year cluster and two Sri Lankan overseas arrivals tested positive for COVID-19. On Monday, 5,731 PCR tests and 2,868 rapid antigen tests were conducted.

In total, 459,150 patients have been detected from the New Year cluster, 82,785 patients have been detected from the Peliyagoda cluster, 9,054 patients have been detected from the Prisons cluster and 3,059 patients have been detected from the Divulapitiya cluster.

The country’s imported cases consist of 6,977 Sri Lankans and 328 foreigners.

The district distribution of COVID-19 patients includes 115,059 persons from Colombo, 98,263 persons from Gampaha, 52,936 persons from Kalutara, 35,414 persons from Galle, and 27,339 persons from Kurunegala. During the third wave of the pandemic, 82,762 persons from Colombo, 79,729 persons from Gampaha, and 45,878 persons from Kalutara tested positive for COVID-19.

At present, 9,256 persons are under medical or home-based care and 2,872 persons suspected of having COVID-19 are under observation.

The Epidemiology Unit states that 347 persons were released from care yesterday, raising the country’s COVID-19 recoveries to 540,387.