COLOMBO – Sri Lanka recorded its 20th COVID-19 related fatality on Saturday (31), a 54-year- old female who had been receiving treatment at the National Hospital in Colombo.
The Epidemiology Unit of the Ministry of Health, in a statement confirming the death, said the deceased, a resident from Colombo 12, had been admitted to the National Hospital on Thursday (29), had died on Friday (30) . It said she had been suffering from several chronic deceases including diabetes, and had been confirmed as COVID-19 positive following a PCR test.
This is the fourth death reported from the premier hospital in Sri Lanka this week and follows a spate of three deaths reported on Tuesday (27), two of them from the National Hospital, Colombo. The three deaths were the most reported in a day and capped a five-day spike which saw six COVID-19 related fatalities from a new and more virulent strain of the novel coronavirus that emerged in a new cluster in Minuwangoda, with the apparel factory in the area as the epicentre, earlier this month. Since then the cluster has seen sub-clusters in several parts of the country, with the largest case load reported from the Peliyagoda fish market. As of Friday (30) night, the Minuwangoda/Peliyagoda cluster had recorded 6,946 cases with 633 testing COVID-19 positive during the course of the day.
The spike in COVID-19 confirmations took the country’s virus tally past the 10,000 figure to 10,424, with 6123 active cases being treated in designated hospitals across the country, and 4,282 deemed to have been completely recovered and discharged from hospitals.
Of the cases confirmed on Friday, 264 are from the Gampaha district, 162 from the Colombo district, and the rest from 11 other districts and quarantine centres across the country.
Chief Epidemiologist Dr Sudath Samaraweera told reporters on Friday that several hundred patients were being reported each day, and acknowledged the virus was spreading fast and was now detected in practically all districts. He also urged the public to limit movements.
Despite the spike in cases, Sri Lanka has avoided a nation-wide lockdown and has tried targeted curfews. Effective midnight Thursday (19), a three-day quarantine curfew was imposed in the entirety of the Western Province, with strict instructions for the public to not venture out unnecessarily. All train and bus services were halted, except for selected services to facilitate students sitting for the GCE A/L exams, teachers, those working in essential service sectors.
The curfew is scheduled to be lifted at 5:00 a.m. on Monday (Nov 2), but authorities have said a final decision would be made after reviewing the situation on Sunday (Nov 1).
-ENCL