Contradictory stats in Health Ministry and Epidemiology Unit websites

• The Health Ministry has recorded the number of active patients at 31,466, while the Epidemiology Unit gave the figure as 36,287

By Sheain Fernandopulle   

Contradictory statistics could be observed in the Health Ministry and Epidemiology Unit websites on the number of active COVID-19 patients in the country.   

The Daily Mirror noticed that the Health Ministry has recorded the number of active patients at 31,466, while the Epidemiology Unit gave the figure as 36,287 as of last afternoon.  

This shows that there is a considerable gap of 4,821 between the two.   

On the other hand, Deputy Director-General of Health Services Dr Hemantha Herath told a news briefing held at the Health Promotion Bureau yesterday that the number of active patients stands at 26,243 as of last afternoon.  
This shows even a larger gap of 10,044 with that of the statistics provided by the Epidemiology Unit.  

When asked about this, Dr. Hemantha Herath told the Daily Mirror that they had informed the Epidemiology Unit of this and they had said they would look into it.  

Accordingly, the Epidemiology Unit has made the relevant changes. At present, the Unit has recorded the number of active patients as 29,506 as of last evening.  

However, there is still a slight gap between the statistics on the number of active patients on both the sites.  
Dr. Herath said they get the data from the most reliable sources and added there could be a slight variation.