741 persons test positive for COVID-19

• 6,191 PCR tests conducted yesterday
• Total patient count rises to 568,423
• Includes 267,529 persons from Western Province
• 11,251 persons under medical or home-based care

 

By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya

Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 case count rose to 568,423 with the detection of 741 COVID-19 patients yesterday.

Yesterday’s detections include 739 persons from the New Year cluster and two overseas arrivals. According to the Health Promotion Bureau, 6,191 PCR tests were conducted yesterday.

The previous day, 7,975 PCR tests and 3,464 rapid antigen tests were carried out. Of the 746 COVID-19 patients detected, 742 were from the New Year cluster and four were Sri Lankan overseas arrivals.

A total of 463,553 patients from the New Year cluster, 82,785 patients from the Peliyagoda cluster, 9,054 patients from the Prisons cluster, and 3,059 patients from the Divulapitiya cluster have tested positive for COVID-19.

The country’s imported cases include 6,989 Sri Lankan overseas arrivals and 328 foreigners.

The district distribution of COVID-19 patients shows 115,531 persons from Colombo, 98,839 persons from Gampaha, 53,159 persons from Kalutara, 35,725 persons from Galle, and 27,711 persons from Kurunegala.

During the third wave of the pandemic, 83,234 persons from Colombo, 80,305 persons from Gampaha, and 46,101 persons from Kalutara tested positive for COVID-19.

At present, 11,251 persons are under medical or home-based care and 2,319 persons suspected of having COVID-19 are under observation.

The Epidemiology Unit states that 362 persons were released from care yesterday, raising the country’s COVID-19 recoveries to 542,688.