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Sunday Dec 22, 2024
Saturday, 22 May 2021 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya
The country recorded over 3,000 daily COVID-19 detections for the third consecutive day with health authorities stating 3,547 persons tested positive for the virus yesterday.
Travel restrictions akin to quarantine curfew came into place last night and will be in effect until 4 a.m. Tuesday (25 May), when restrictions will be lifted until 11 p.m. the same day. Travel restrictions will once again be enforced until 4 a.m. Friday (28 May).
Despite calls from key personnel and associations in the health sector to enforce a 14-day lockdown or quarantine curfew, the Government has opted for relatively relaxed travel restrictions.
The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) yesterday warned that daily COVID-19 detections will soon exceed 5,000 if strict regulations and travel restrictions are not enforced.
“The time when daily detections exceed 5,000 is not far. Our hospitals are at 90% capacity as of [Thursday]. If strict travel restrictions and strict regulations are not enforced in the next few weeks, this will exceed 5,000,” GMOA Executive Assistant Dr. Prasad Colombage said.
The patients detected yesterday include 3,538 persons linked to the New Year cluster and the Divulapitiya, Peliyagoda, Prisons and New Year COVID-19 clusters have expanded to 151,944 patients.
According to the situation report published by the Epidemiology Unit yesterday, 82,785 patients from the Peliyagoda cluster, 57,124 patients from the New Year cluster, 5,438 persons from the Prisons cluster, and 3,059 patients from the Divulapitiya cluster have been detected to date.
In addition to the clusters, 4,150 Sri Lankan returnees from abroad and 316 foreigners have also tested positive for COVID-19 in the island.
This includes the 3,547 patients detected on Thursday, of which 3,538 were from the New Year cluster, 142 were from the Prisons cluster, and two were Sri Lankan returnees from abroad.
A total of 25,680 PCR tests were performed on Thursday.
The majority of the patients detected on Thursday were from Gampaha District, where 822 persons tested positive. In addition to this, 674 persons from Colombo and 287 persons from Kalutara also tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.
The district distribution of COVID-19 patients shows 43,195 detections from Colombo, 28,990 detections from Gampaha, 13,024 detections from Kalutara, 7,605 detections from Kurunegala, and 6,193 detections from Kandy.
The country’s total COVID-19 detections rose to 158,333 yesterday and Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children Paediatrician Dr. Deepal Perera said over 1,000 children are among the country’s COVID-19 patient count.
At present, 31,884 persons are under medical care, including 577 persons at the Bingiriya Treatment Centre, 570 persons at the Punani Treatment Centre, and 488 patients at the Neville Fernando Teaching Hospital.
There are also 1,772 COVID-19 suspect patients under observation at various treatment centres.
Hospitals yesterday discharged 1,828 persons who recovered from the virus. This includes 135 persons from the Punani Treatment Centre, 122 persons at the Bingiriya Treatment Centre, and 114 persons at the Dambadeniya Treatment Centre.
The country’s COVID-19 recoveries have thus risen to 125,360.
