Tuesday Sep 17, 2024
Tuesday Sep 17, 2024
Wednesday, 19 August 2020 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Two persons tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the island to 2,902.
The new patients include a foreign returnee, and Sri Lanka has had 1,007 imported cases so far. According to the Epidemiology Unit, 973 of these cases are Sri Lankan returnees from abroad and 34 are foreigners.
Of the local cases, 950 are Navy personnel and their close contacts and 630 are connected to the Kandakadu Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre. The Kandakadu cluster includes 508 detainees, 67 staff members, five guest staffers, and 48 family and close contacts. An individual who was a close contact of the patient identified from the Welikada Prison is also included in the total number of cases.
There are currently 136 patients under medical care in various hospitals, including 54 at the Welikanda Base Hospital, 30 at the Kandakadu Treatment Centre, 20 at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), 18 at the Minuwangoda Base Hospital, and 12 at the Iranawila Hospital.
The number of active cases in the island dropped significantly from 206 at 10 a.m. on Monday to 136 the same time the next day with the recovery of 79 persons. This is the highest number of daily recoveries since 28 July, when 175 persons were discharged from various hospitals, including 130 from the Kandakadu Treatment Centre.
The majority of the recoveries recorded during the 24-hour period ending at 10 a.m. yesterday is from the Kandakadu Treatment Centre, from where 72 persons were discharged yesterday. In addition to this, seven persons were discharged from the Welikanda Base Hospital.
The total number of COVID-19 recoveries in the island has risen to 2,755 and the Health Promotion Bureau states that the country’s recovery rate is 94.97%. With 11 COVID-19-related deaths, the fatality rate is 0.38%.
There are also 74 persons suspected of having COVID-19 currently being monitored at various hospitals. This includes 23 at the Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital and 10 at the Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) Hospital.
The Health Promotion Bureau also states that 191,507 PCR tests have been carried out so far, including 1,989 on Monday.
In addition to this, 19 persons left quarantine centres in the country yesterday, of which nine left a centre in Mount Lavinia, seven left two centres in Diyathalawa, two left a centre in Hekitta, and one left a centre in Biyagama.
At present, 31,003 persons have completed the quarantine process and left centres, while a further 5,347 persons are currently undergoing quarantine in 44 centres. This includes 286 persons who returned from Jordan and 25 persons who returned from Qatar yesterday.
