Connect with us

News

Rise in Covid deaths; 12 so far in July

Published

on

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Covid 19 death toll is on the rise and has increased to 16,535 with 12 deaths reported in July, a Health Ministry report showed.A World Health Organisation (WHO) report released on Wednesday showed there is a 22 percent increase in average number of COVID-19 cases reported in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka has withdrawn the mandatory rule of wearing mask on June 10 in the public and thousands of people are now compelled to travel in bus and trains because there is only a few public transport because of fuel shortage.

Health authorities said the average cases per day in the country has increased to around 15-20 cases since mid-July.

“There is no significant increase. Up till the recent past, the average cases reported were around 10 per day but there has been an increase in the average from 15 to 20 cases per day,” Deputy Director-General of Public Health Services Dr Hemantha Herath said.

Health officials are monitoring and taking precautionary measures to prevent the spreading of new COVID-19 clusters in Sri Lanka.Cases since July 11 are an accumulative 431, data from the Epidemiology Unit at the Ministry of Health showed.The number of inward and home based and waiting to be admitted cases have increased by 204 to 578

from a week earlier. Recoveries for this week has been a constant of three per day.Currently 703 patients are receiving medical treatment in health institutes and under home based care system while the total number of patients have increased to 664,704.International Health organizations are keep monitoring the changes of the virus and the new BA.5, a sub

variant of the highly contagious omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, that is reported be highly transmissible which originated in South Africa in February, is currently the dominant variant in the United States.

However, Sri Lanka has not detected the variant so far in the community.Sri Lanka is now offering the fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, which can be obtained at the nearest Medical Officer of Health (MOH) vaccination centre.

Though the 4th dose has not been made mandatory, it is recommended for everyone over the age of 20 and is highly recommended for citizens above the age of 60 and those above 20 with comorbidity.Out of the 22 million population, a 17.1 million have got vaccinated with the first dose while 14.5 million have got the second dose as well.However, booster has been obtained only by eight million so far and the fourth dose has been obtained by 13,959 only.



Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest News

Landslide RED warnings issued to the districts of Kandy, Kegalle, Kurunegala, Matale and Nuwara Eliya extended up to 1600 hrs today [07]

Published

on

By

The Landslide Early Warning Center of the National Building Research Organisation [NBRO] has issued  landslide early warnings to the districts of Badulla, Colombo, Galle, Gampaha, Kalutara, Kandy, Kegalle, Kurunegala, Matale, Matara, Monaragala, Nuwara Eliya and Ratnapura effective from 16:00 hrs on 06.12.2025 to 16:00 hrs on 07.12.2025.

Accordingly,
LEVEL III RED  warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Pathadumbara, Kundasale, Pathahewaheta, Panvila, Medadumbara, Doluwa, Thumpane, Udunuwara, Deltota, Ganga Ihala Korale, Pasbage Korale, Yatinuwara, Hatharaliyadda, Ududumbara, Minipe, Udapalatha, Gangawata Korale, Akurana, Poojapitiya and Harispattuwa in the Kandy district, Thumpane, Udunuwara, Deltota, Ganga Ihala Korale, Pasbage Korale, Yatinuwara, Hatharaliyadda, Ududumbara, Minipe, Udapalatha, Gangawata Korale, Akurana, Poojapitiya and Harispattuwa in the Kegalle district, Alawwa, Rideegama, Polgahawela, Mallawapitiya and Mawathagama inthe Kurunegala district, Ukuwela, Naula, Yatawatta, Laggala Pallegama, Pallepola, Matale, Rattota, Ambanganga Korale and Wilgamuwa in the Matale district, and Hanguranketha, Mathurata, Nildandahinna and Walapane in the Nuwara Eliya district

LEVEL II AMBER warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Uva Paranagama, Badulla, Kandeketiya, Bandarawela, Soranathota, Hali_Ela, Meegahakivula, Ella, Welimada, Haputhale, Lunugala, Haldummulla and Passara in the Badulla district, Narammala in the Kurunegala district, Kothmale West, Norwood, Ambagamuwa Korale, Thalawakele, Kothmale East and Nuwara Eliya in the Nuwara Eliya district and Godakawela, Kahawaththa and Kolonna  in the Ratnapura district.

LEVEL I YELLOW warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of  Seethawaka and Padukka in the Colonbo district, Elpitiya and Yakkalamulla in the Galle district, Mirigama, Divulapitiya and Attanagalla  in the Gampaha district, Ingiriya, Bulathsinhala and Horana in the Kalutara district, Pasgoda and Athuraliya in the Matara district, Bibile and Medagama in the Monaragala district, and Kuruwita, Balangoda, Eheliyagoda, Pelmadulla, Kaltota, Kalawana, Openayake, Ayagama, Nivithigala, Imbulpe, Elapatha, Ratnapura and Kiriella in the Ratnapura district.

Continue Reading

Latest News

618 dead, 209 missing as at 2000hrs on Saturday [06]

Published

on

By

The Situation Report issued by the Disaster Management Center [DMC] at 2000hrs on Saturday [06] confirms that 607 persons have died due to the recent flooding and landslides while another 209 persons were missing.

The death toll in the Kandy district which one of the most affected districts has risen to 232, and 1800 houses have  been fully damaged.The number of missing persons reported is 81

100,124 persons belonging to 29,874 families were being housed at  990 safety centers established by the government.

Continue Reading

News

Opposition blames govt. inaction for severity of disaster impact

Published

on

The government’s failure to act on expert warnings, including advance forecasts on Cyclone Ditwah, had led to the worsening of disaster impact, Udaya Gammanpila, leader of the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya, said at a press conference in Colombo yesterday.

Gammanpila accused the NPP government of ignoring 14 key preventive measures, despite alerts from the Meteorology Department, foreign experts, and the media.

Gammanpila said the government had failed to lower the water levels in reservoirs, dredge estuaries, and deploy the armed forces for canal maintenance. Local government bodies were reportedly sidelined, and that led to a delay in cleaning of drains. He said the government had also failed to evacuate people in a timely manner from seven districts identified by the National Building Research Organisation as landslide-prone. It had delayed declaring emergencies or curfews and the deployment of tri-forces to evacuate people in such areas.

Gammanpila said an experienced public official should have been appointed as Secretary to the President to mobilise the state machinery swiftly during the disaster. He said the government had not convened the National Disaster Council.

“These failures worsened the disaster, causing immense hardship, disruption, and loss of life and property to the people,” Gammanpila said.

The government has denied the Opposition’s claims.

Continue Reading

Trending