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Thursday, 15 July 2021 01:50 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya
Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 detections rose to 279,059 with the detection of 1,540 COVID-19 positive persons yesterday.
According to the Health Promotion Bureau, 12,848 PCR tests were carried out yesterday and the COVID-19 detections include 1,453 persons from the New Year cluster.
In total, 270,988 patients have been detected from the Divulapitiya, Peliyagoda, Prisons and New Year clusters. The cumulative patient count of the clusters includes 176,257 persons from the New Year cluster, 82,785 persons from the Peliyagoda cluster, 7,538 persons from the Prisons cluster, and 3,059 persons from the Divulapitiya cluster.
The Epidemiology Unit states that 64,372 persons from Colombo, 49,085 persons from Gampaha, 30,534 persons from Kalutara, 14,598 persons from Kurunegala, and 13,856 persons from Kandy have tested positive for COVID-19 to date.
During the third wave of the pandemic, 32,075 persons from Colombo, 30,551 persons from Gampaha, and 23,476 persons from Kalutara have tested positive.
The district distribution of COVID-19 patients include the 1,413 patients detected on Tuesday, out of which 248 persons were from Mannar, 210 persons were from Gampaha, and 156 persons were from Colombo.
The patients detected from Mannar are said to be from an intermediate treatment centre run by the Sri Lanka Navy, raising questions about another cluster emerging from the Navy. The previous cluster of Navy personnel and close contacts had 950 patients linked to it.
However, Health Promotion Bureau Director Dr. Ranjith Batuwanthudawa said health officials have only been informed of the number of patients detected and not of the possibility of the emergence of a cluster.
“Once information is compiled on where the first patient emerged and if there are other contacts, we can get a better idea about this,” he said.
The Epidemiology Unit states that 1,372 persons from the New Year cluster, 32 persons from the Prisons cluster, and nine Sri Lankan returnees from overseas tested positive for COVID-19. In terms of testing, 9,919 PCR tests and 4,014 rapid antigen tests were carried out on Tuesday.
The country’s total COVID-19 detections also include 5,752 Sri Lankan overseas returnees and 328 foreigners have also tested positive for COVID-19.
At present, 22,471 persons are under medical care and 1,058 persons suspected of having COVID-19 are under investigation.
The country’s COVID-19 recoveries rose to 253,014 with 955 persons discharged from hospitals yesterday.
