Transmission of COVID-19 among flood victims is minimal

The transmission of COVID-19 among victims of the recent flash floods is minimal as the people who were in temporary shelters are being sent back to their homes, Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said yesterday.

DMC Spokesman Pradeep Kodipilly told Daily Mirror that there had not been a single COVID-19 patient among those who were displaced by the flash floods.

A total of 121,177 people belonging to 48,000 families were in temporary shelters up to May 16 but most of them have been sent back to their respective homes as of yesterday. Only three houses have been destroyed while 868 were partly damaged as per the data put out by the DMC.

Meanwhile it was reported that water levels of all major rivers are receding.around ten districts including

Kegalle, Ratnapura, Colombo, Kalutara, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Puttalam, Galle, Matara and Kandy Districts were affected by the flash floods. The Department of Meteorology forecasted showers or thundershowers at several places in Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva, Eastern and North-central provinces during the evening or night in the coming days. Fairly heavy falls above 50 mm are expected at some places in the Central and Uva provinces.

Several spells of showers are expected to occur in the Western and North-western provinces and in Galle and Matara districts. (YOHAN PERERA)