Sri Lanka records three more COVID fatalities, 549 new cases
COLOMBO – Sri Lanka announced three more COVID-19 related fatalities and 549 new cases on Monday (28), taking the death toll to 194 and the novel coronavirus tally to 41,603, with 8,188 actives cases receiving treatment at various designated hospitals across the country.
The Department of Government Information in a statement announcing the deaths identified the deceased as two males and one female, with two of them dying on admission to the hospital.
Of the two males, a 90-year-old from Dharga Town, Aluthgama in the Kalutara District, had died on admission to the District Hospital Kalutara, of blood poisoning and a heart attack due to high blood pressure with COVID-19 virus infection, while the second male, aged 83 from Teldeniya in the Kandy District, had died at the Base Hospital Teldeniya, of Covid-related pneumonia and acute kidney failure. Meanwhile, the female, aged 57 from Kalutara South, had died on admission to the District Hospital Kalutara, of Covid-related blood poisoning and pneumonia.
One hundred and eighty deaths have now been officially recorded since October 24, several on admission to hospitals, since 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, including a prison cluster, with the largest case load reported from the Peliyagoda fish market which now accounts for 37,890, with 530 of the 549 cases confirmed on Monday linked to the Peliyagoda/prison cluster.
The National Operations Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) identified the balance 19 as Sri Lankan who had arrived from overseas.
Of the 530, NOCPCO said 237 were from the Colombo District, 124 from the Gampaha District, 44 from Kandy and 125 from various other places.
Monday’s confirmations take Sri Lanka’s novel coronavirus count to 41,603 with 33,221 being deemed recovered and discharged under the new health ministry guidelines.
Meanwhile, Police Spokesman, Deputy Inspector General Ajith Rohana said the health authorities will be continuing with the rapid antigen tests, being carried out at exit points in the Western Province, until January 5, 2021. He said since December 18, over 10,000 such tests have been carried out, of which 61 people had tested positive for the virus.
-ENCL