• 6,505 PCR tests conducted on Wednesday
• Total patient count rises to 522,778, includes 418,116 persons from New Year cluster
• Western Province detections during third wave reach 196,962
• 31,267 persons under medical or home-based care

By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya

Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 case count rose to 522,778 with the detection of 776 COVID-19 patients yesterday.

The patients detected yesterday were from the New Year cluster. According to the Health Promotion Bureau, 6,505 PCR tests were conducted yesterday.

On Tuesday, 5,415 PCR tests and 2,881 rapid antigen tests were carried out and 784 COVID-19 patients were detected. The detections include 762 persons from the New Year cluster, 20 persons from the Prisons cluster, and two Sri Lankan overseas arrivals.

A total of 418,116 patients have been detected from the New Year cluster to date, with the Prisons cluster expanding to 8,856 patients. The country’s local cases also include 82,785 persons from the Peliyagoda cluster and 3,059 persons from the Divulapitiya cluster.

The imported COVID-19 cases consist of 6,944 Sri Lankans and 328 foreigners.

The district distribution of COVID-19 patients shows 110,888 detections from Colombo, 92,865 detections from Gampaha, 51,098 detections from Kalutara, 31,469 detections from Galle, and 25,225 detections from Kurunegala.

During the third wave of the pandemic, 78,591 persons from Colombo, 74,331 persons from Gampaha, and 44,040 persons from Kalutara tested positive for COVID-19.

At present, 31,267 persons are under medical or home-based care and 2,599 persons suspected of having COVID-19 are under observation.

The Epidemiology Unit states that 475 persons were released from care yesterday, raising the country’s COVID-19 recoveries to 478,326.

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