29 April 2020 12:08 am
Tally of patients rises to 619
In the wake of eight more people testing positive to COVID-19 the tally of patients had increased to 619 by last evening but Health Services Director General (DGHS) Dr. Anil Jasinghe said the spread of COVID-19 in clusters had been brought under control.
He said with the new health and security measures in place, the spread of the infection in epidemic proportions had also been contained while 1,553 PCR tests were carried out on Monday alone.
With the detection of two COVID-19 infected people at Dabare Mawatha in Narahenpita, the road was closed and placed under isolation while other areas such as Beruwala, Atulugama, Jaffna, Ratnapura, Ja-Ela and Bandaranayake Mawatha in Colombo 12 which were placed under isolation have now been opened.
Dr. Jasinghe said expectant mothers showing symptoms of fever, bleeding, severe headache, difficulty in breathing, impaired vision, fits, chest or abdominal pain, reduced foetal movements, swelling of the body or any other discomfort should immediately seek hospital care.
Meanwhile, Acting Chief of Defence Staff and Army Commander Lieut. Gen. Shavendra Silva who heads the fight against the viral infection confirmed that the tally up to last afternoon stood at 599. He said the majority of those infected were from the Welisara Naval Detachment (WND) and that there was no need for panic because the Navy personnel found infected with the virus were those who carried out search operations to detect infected drug addicts at Bandaranayake Mawatha in Colombo 12 and Suduwella in Ja-Ela. The Lieut. Gen. said at the outset, the spread of the infection was gradual. For instance, the week preceding March 18, there were only 42 patients; from March 18 to 24 it increased to 101; from March 25 to 31 to 142; from April 1 to 8 to 184, from April 9 to 16 to 232; from April 17 to 24 to 409 while last Saturday alone there were 169 new infections. Meanwhile, Embilipitiya Chief Magistrate R. Widanagama had decided to undergo a 14-day period of self-isolation because her husband is an officer of the Welisara Naval detachment where a large number of soldiers fell victim to the viral infection.. At Kabagamuwa in the Bulathkohupitiya Secretariat Division more than 100 families at the Tummuduna village were placed under isolation from yesterday.
The Consultant Physician of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), Dr. Eranga Narangoda said four COVID-19 patients were admitted yesterday to the NIID raising the number of victims at the hospital to 140 while three patients were discharged yesterday after full recovery bringing the number of patients who had recovered to 134 while the number still in hospital was 451.
District-wise, there were 155 patients in Colombo; 63 in Kalutara; 47 in Gampaha; 41 in Puttalam; 16 in Jaffna; 18 in Kurunegala; 12 in Kandy; 111 in Anuradhapura; eight in Kegalle; seven in Ratnapura; four in Monaragala; three in Hambantota; two each in Matara, Kalmunai, Vavuniya and Badulla and one each in Galle, Batticaloa, Vavuniya, Matale, Polonnaruwa and Trincomalee Districts.