Thursday Nov 21, 2024
Thursday Nov 21, 2024
Thursday, 23 December 2021 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya
Three more Omicron cases have been detected in the island, raising the total number of Omicron detections in the country to seven.
According to Medical Research Institute Consultant Virologist Dr. Jude Jayamaha, the three cases include two
returnees from Sudan and one returnee from Tanzania. The overseas returnees arrived in Sri Lanka on 16 December and 20 December.
“The Medical Research Institute began gene sequencing on 26 November and we have carried out several tests so far. We detected three patients with the Omicron variant [yesterday],” he said, adding that gene sequencing was carried out on 16 more samples and these were found to be of the Delta variant.
Health officials also state that 673 persons, of which 672 persons were from the New Year cluster and one was an overseas arrival, tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday. According to the Health Promotion Bureau, 7,367 PCR tests were conducted yesterday.
The previous day, 9,307 PCR tests and 3,621 rapid antigen tests were conducted and 713 COVID-19 patients were detected. Among those who tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday were 712 persons from the New Year cluster and one Sri Lankan overseas arrival.
A total of 581,595 COVID-19 patients have been detected in the island to date. This includes 476,764 persons from the New Year cluster, 82,785 persons from the Peliyagoda cluster, 9,062 persons from the Prisons cluster and 3,059 persons from the Divulapitiya cluster.
The country’s imported cases include 7,010 Sri Lankan overseas returnees and 328 foreigners.
According to the Epidemiology Unit, 116,856 persons from Colombo, 100,624 persons from Gampaha, 53,659 persons from Kalutara, 37,419 persons from Galle, and 28,459 persons from Kurunegala have tested positive for COVID-19 to date.
During the third wave of the pandemic, 84,559 patients from Colombo, 82,090 patients from Gampaha, and 46,601 patients from Kalutara were detected.
At present, 8,558 persons are under medical or home-based care and 2,292 persons suspected of having COVID-19 are under observation.
The country’s COVID-19 recoveries rose to 558,226 with 311 persons leaving care yesterday.
