COLOMBO – Sri Lanka reached yet another grim milestone on Friday (27), when the COVID-19 fatality tally crossed the 100 mark to reach 107, with eight deaths reported, all of them from Colombo. Sri Lanka’s novel coronavirus tally also spiked to 22,501 with 472 new cases confirmed during the course of the day.
The Department of Government Information in a statement announcing the deaths identified the deceased as four females and four males, one of them a 70-year-old inmate of the Magazine Prison. Five of the deaths had occurred at home.
Of the female deaths, an 87-year -old from Colombo 13 had died at her residence of a COVID infection related stroke and cardiac arrest; a 54-year-old cancer patient from Dematagoda, had died at the Homagama Base Hospital after being transferred from Apeksha Hospital in Maharagam upon being diagnosed as COVID-19 positive; a 78-year-old from Maradana, had died at home of COVID-related cardiac arrest; and a 58-year- old diabetic and kidney disease patient from Maligawatta had also died at home of diabetes from a cardiac arrest due to COVID-19 virus infection related complications.
Of the males, a 36 year old from Colombo 13, diagnosed as infected with COVID-19 virus had died at the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Angoda of a lung infection aggravated by the virus; an 83-year-old from Colombo 2, had died at home of COVID-related cardiac arrest; a 69-year-old from Colombo 13 had also died at home of asthma and a lung infection aggravated by COVID-pneumonia; and a 70-year inmate of the Magazine Prison had died at the Prison Hospital of a COVID-19 related kidney infection.
The statement said Director General of Health Services, Dr. Asela Gunawardena, had confirmed all eight deaths to be COVID-19 related, taking the COVID fatality count to 107
Ninety four deaths have now been officially recorded since October 24, and the emergence of a new and more virulent strain of the virus in a new cluster in Minuwangoda, with the apparel factory in the area as the epicentre earlier in the 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 Thursday, the Minuwangoda/Peliyagoda cluster had recorded 18,963 cases with the 472 cases confirmed during the course of the day.
According to the Department of Government Information daily update, all of Friday’s confirmations are linked to the Peliyagoda cluster and take Sri Lanka’s novel coronavirus count to 22,501 with 16,226 being deemed recovered and discharged under the new health ministry guidelines, and 6,168 receiving treatment at various designated hospitals across the country.
-ENCL