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Last COVID-19 cluster on the wane
The Kandakadu cluster is abating and now COVID-19 confirmed cases are from among those who are returning from abroad, many health sources said.
Leaving the quarantine centre in Vanni
Consultant Physician Dr. Eranga Narangoda – who treated a large number of positive patients at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) and has now moved to the Homagama Base Hospital – said fewer positive cases were being diagnosed from the Kandakadu cluster, a fact confirmed by many sources at ground level.
“When looking at the eight-day timeline, from Friday, July 31 to Friday, August 7, the 25 COVID-19 cases reported by the Epidemiology Unit were mainly returnees from abroad and to a lesser extent from the Kandakadu cluster,” the sources said, while the Public Health Inspectors’ (PHIs’) Union added that there was no fear of the new coronavirus spreading after the parliamentary election as the public adhered to the preventive measures.
“We had much public cooperation,” said the union’s Secretary M. Balasooriya, explaining that 2,850 PHIs were on duty at the 225 polling stations on August 5 and 200 were present on Thursday and Friday at the counting centres to ensure the health guidelines were followed.
From the time the first imported case (the Chinese woman tourist) was detected on January 27, there have been 2,839 confirmed cases of COVID-19 up to now, with 11 deaths. The number of people who have recovered is 2,564. Currently, there are 264 confirmed patients and another 38 suspected cases in hospital.
The Sunday Times looked at how the Lankapura, Rajanganaya, Gampaha and Kahathuduwa sub-clusters of the Kandakadu cluster were panning out.
Lankapura cluster
The two COVID-19 positive patients found in the Lankapura area are receiving treatment at the NIID, a source at ground level said, explaining that there is no problem now as all their contacts who underwent RT-PCR testing twice are negative.
The first was an employee of the Lankapura Divisional Secretariat who had visited Kandakadu and tested positive while in quarantine. When tests were done on other employees of the secretariat, another minor employee tested positive.
As the Divisional Secretariat staff works closely with the nearby Pradeshiya Sabha, 180 employees of both institutions sent into quarantine will report back to work on Thursday (August 13), the source said.
When asked about speculation that a school was shut down due to a new case, the source said it was not true, adding that anyway all schools were closed when this incident happened.
Rajanganaya cluster
Seven of the 20 who tested positive in Rajanganaya after one person had contact with the Kandakadu cluster have been discharged from hospital, the Sunday Times learns.
The first patient of this cluster was detected on July 10. All contacts of the 20 patients, around 60 people, were sent in to home quarantine and the RT-PCR tests done so far have been negative. The tests are to be repeated next Wednesday (August 12), a source said.
Gampaha cluster
The 150 contacts of the four-member Gampaha cluster have tested negative and a majority of them have completed their quarantine period, said the area’s Medical Officer of Health (MOH), Dr. Subasha Subasinghe.
The four patients, who have all been discharged from hospital, were a driver (male), an instructor (male) from the Kandakadu Treatment & Rehabilitation Centre, a teacher (male) and a female relative of the driver.
Kahathuduwa cluster
A visiting lecturer at the Kandakadu centre from Kahathuduwa who tested positive on July 17, followed by his wife and two children (aged 6 and 11 years) who also tested positive have recovered and left the NIID for home, it is learnt.
The lecturer’s mother-in-law who tested negative has completed her quarantine period.
| Repatriation flights resume | |
| Two flights arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), Katunayake, yesterday (August 8), said Airport and Aviation Services Limited (AASL) Vice Chairman, Rajeewasiri Sooriyaarachchi.They were an Emirates flight from the United Arab Emirates with more than 300 passengers and a SriLankan Airlines flight from China with 108 military officials and 14 civilians. There was a 25-day suspension of both repatriation and cargo flights in view of the Kandakadu cluster cropping up and in the run-up to the elections. He said that repatriation flights, a majority from SriLankan Airlines, which were cancelled will be rescheduled now, with clearance from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). A limited number of departures and transits are taking place from the BIA. Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) The MRIA, the only other airport other than the BIA to receive flights, has been opened partially, said its Chief Airport Manager Upul Kalansuriya, explaining that in the early stages of COVID-19, the MRIA was closed on March 18 for three weeks. The repatriation flights were also suspended for a few days due to the elections recently, but two charter flights arrived yesterday – both were SriLankan Airlines flights with 178 passengers from the Maldives and 165 passengers from Visakhapatnam, India, respectively. Earlier, the flights which landed at the MRIA were passenger, charter and cargo flights and some which came in for re-fuelling. Regular flights which went through were those of the Ukranian cargo airline, Antonov Airlines. He said that in June and July, there were around 50 flights comprising charters and private jets which brought around 2,300 passengers, mostly seafarers and returnees. There were around 10-15 returnee flights from the Maldives, India and Dubai. The Sunday Times learns that as soon as a flight lands, there is a disinfectant protocol for the passengers and their baggage. Thereafter, samples for RT-PCR testing are collected from the passengers by private hospital (Durdans, Asiri, Nawaloka and Lanka) personnel after which the samples are transported to their laboratories in Colombo. “While the passengers are sent into quarantine at designated hotels, the results of the tests are sent to the flight operators. More than 2,000 tests have been done but no one has tested positive so far. The passengers are informed in advance that they would have to pay Rs. 6,000-7,000 each for the test,” added Mr. Kalansuriya.
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| Mother and triplets doing fine in Oman | |
| A Sri Lankan expecting triplets in Oman delivered her two baby boys and baby girl through a Caesarian operation on July 17 and mother and babies are fine, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman, O.L. Ameer Ajwad told the Sunday Times.He said that Ruwanthika Dilini – working for Galfar Engineering & Contracting SAOG, who lives with her husband in Oman – was due to get back to Sri Lanka on a repatriation flight on June 28 on a priority basis along with 16 other expectant women. However, she opted to stay behind in Oman as she was in the final trimester and flying could be risky. The closure of airports had prevented her returning to Sri Lanka earlier. “We made arrangements for Ruwanthika to consult a Senior Obstetrician of the Al Khoula Government Hospital in Muscat, Dr. Tahira Kazmi, with help from the Health Ministry here. Financial support for her surgery was arranged through the Dar Al Atta Charitable Association,” said Mr. Ajwad. He added that around 1,700 people have registered with the embassy to return home and priority is being accorded to a few more expectant mothers. |
