Foreign
Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 patient count surpasses 53,000
The total number of COVID-19 patients in Sri Lanka surpassed the 53,000 mark on Monday after over 700 people tested positive for the virus a day earlier, statistics from the Health Ministry showed here Monday.
According to official figures, out of the 53,062 patients detected to date, 45,171 patients had recovered and been discharged from hospitals, bringing down the active patient count to 7,627.
A total of 264 deaths have been reported from the virus.
Sri Lanka is presently in the midst of the second wave of the pandemic after two new clusters were detected in October last year from a garment factory in Minuwangoda, on the outskirts of capital Colombo and another from a fish market in Colombo.
Since then several areas in Colombo have been placed under isolation to prevent a further spread of the pandemic and wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing have been made mandatory by the Health Ministry.
The Sri Lankan government recently said that the government will begin the COVID-19 vaccination program by the end of February or early March.
(XINHUA)
