23 October 2020 12:03 am
With the outbreak of the Minuwangoda Brandix COVID-19 cluster that has already spread into 13 districts, there is a high possibility of the virus spreading into the remaining districts as well, Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera said.
He said COVID-19 patients had been reported from Kurunegala, Puttalam, Kegalle, Kandy, Galle, Hambantota, Jaffna, Vavuniya, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Badulla, Monaragala and especially Gampaha.
He said following the detection of the 49 COVID-19 patients including fish vendors from the Peliyagoda Fish Market, there is another possibility of spreading the virus around the country through fish sellers.
“The fish harvest received at the Peliyagoda Fish Market had been distributed around the country. There might be persons who contracted the virus from fish vendors and transporting fish across the country,” Dr. Samaraweera said.
Therefore, Dr. Samaraweera requested the vendors who bought fish from the Peliyagoda Fish Market to be alerted about the symptoms.
The Epidemiology Unit has taken steps to conduct PCR tests in all districts to trace contacts of COVID-19 patients.
“More than 425,000 PCR tests had been done in the country and samples had been collected to conduct more than 8,000 PCR tests yesterday,” he said. With the emergence of the COVID-19 cluster at Peliyagoda Fish Market, people need not fear eating fish, Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera said.