2,460 persons test positive for COVID-19

• Health Ministry warns of movement restrictions if detections continue to rise
• Says increase in symptomatic patients in Western Province
• Total COVID-19 detections rise to 306,662, includes over 70,000 from Colombo District
• 27,126 persons currently under medical care, recoveries rise to 275,212

Saturday, 31 July 2021 

A total of 2,460 COVID-19 patients were detected yesterday as the country’s daily COVID-19 detections rose and health officials warned of movement restrictions being imposed once again.

According to Health Ministry Spokesperson Dr. Hemantha Herath, movement restrictions will be necessary if the number of COVID-19 patients continues to rise and the situation cannot be controlled.

“In the past few days, there has been a clear rise in patients. At present, there is an increase in the number of symptomatic patients going to many of the main hospitals in Western Province,” he said.

Despite the rise in patients, testing has remained below 20,000 a day, with 12,578 PCR tests carried out yesterday, 14,147 PCR tests the day before and 12,887 PCR tests on Wednesday. In terms of rapid antigen tests, 5,615 tests were carried out on Thursday and 5,709 tests were carried out on Wednesday.

A total of 306,662 persons have tested positive for COVID-19 to date and this includes 202,050 persons from the New Year cluster, 82,785 persons from the Peliyagoda cluster, 7,818 persons from the Prisons cluster, and 3,059 persons from the Divulapitiya cluster.

The cumulative patient count of the four clusters is 298,177 and includes 2,455 persons from the New Year cluster who tested positive yesterday.

In addition to this, 6,248 Sri Lankan overseas arrivals and 328 foreigners have also tested positive for COVID-19 in Sri Lanka.

The district distribution of COVID-19 patients shows 70,130 persons from Colombo, 54,446 persons from Gampaha, 32,823 persons from Kalutara, 15,191 persons from Kurunegala, and 14,615 persons from Galle.

During the third wave of the pandemic, 37,833 persons from Colombo, 35,912 persons from Gampaha, and 25,765 persons from Kalutara have tested positive for COVID-19.

The district distribution includes the COVID-19 patients detected on Thursday, of which 396 were from Gampaha, 368 were from Colombo, and 220 were from Kalutara.

Thursday’s COVID-19 detections include 2,323 persons from the New Year cluster, 41 Sri Lankan returnees from abroad and six persons from the Prisons cluster.

At present, 27,126 persons are under medical care, while hospitals have 1,396 persons suspected of having COVID-19 under observation.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 recoveries rose to 275,212 with 1,716 persons leaving hospitals yesterday.

In addition to this, Primary Health Care, Epidemics and COVID Disease Control State Minister Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle yesterday said that while she considers the demands of teachers regarding their salaries to be fair, there is room for the emergence of new clusters through protests.

“If there are issues with their salaries, it is best if they are resolved through discussion,” she said, adding, “This is not a time for protests.”

The State Minister went on to stress the importance of following health guidelines despite being fully vaccinated, pointing to countries like the US, where restrictions were relaxed as vaccination coverage increased, which led to an increase in COVID-19 detections.