Thursday Nov 21, 2024
Thursday Nov 21, 2024
Friday, 3 September 2021 00:18 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya
The country’s COVID-19 detections rose to 447,757 with the detections of 3,627 COVID-19 positive persons yesterday.
According to the Health Promotion Bureau, 14,009 PCR tests were carried out yesterday and the detections include 3,619 persons from the New Year cluster and eight overseas arrivals
On Wednesday, 13,336 PCR tests and 4,345 rapid antigen tests were carried out and 3,828 COVID-19 patients were detected. Out of the detections, 3,826 were from the New Year cluster and two were from the Prisons cluster.
The Epidemiology Unit states that 341,044 patients are linked to the New Year cluster and 8,164 patients are linked to the Prisons cluster. The country’s imported cases include 6,836 Sri Lankans and 328 foreigners.
According to the district distribution of COVID-19 detections published by the Epidemiology Unit, 99,916 persons from Colombo, 81,009 persons from Gampaha, 44,569 persons from Kalutara, 24,350 persons from Galle, and 21,561 persons from Kurunegala have tested positive for COVID-19.
During the third wave of the pandemic, 67,619 persons from Colombo, 62,475 persons from Gampaha, and 37,511 persons from Kalutara tested positive for the virus.
At present, 59,985 persons are under medical or home-based care and 3,283 persons suspected of having COVID-19 are under observation.
The Epidemiology Unit states that 1,952 persons left hospitals yesterday, raising the country’s COVID-19 recoveries to 378,168. Meanwhile, a decision on quarantine curfew, which is due to be lifted on 6 September, is expected to be announced today, health officials said. According to Health Services Director General Dr. Asela Gunawardena, the Presidential Task Force on the Prevention of COVID-19 is due to meet today and a decision will be made on quarantine curfew and if it will be lifted or extended further.
“By the end of October, we expect to be able to return to normalcy but this depends on the variants and adherence to health guidelines by the public,” he said.
