Intense efforts in Sabaragamuwa to track contacts of COVID-19 patients

Intensive efforts are being taken in the Sabaragamuwa province to track down and isolate those who had come into contact with the latest confirmed COVID-19 patients in the province. 

Provincial Director of Health Kapila Kannangara said that 18 COVID-19 patients have so far been confirmed from the province. Nine are from the Kegalle district while the other nine are from Ratnapura district. Eight of the confirmed cases are navy personnel serving at the Welisara Naval Base and who had returned home on leave. An army soldier is also among the infected while others are all civilians. 

A total of 1369 persons in the province have been self-quarantined, with 1113 quarantined in the Ratnapura district while 256 quarantined in the Kegalle district. Those quarantined include immediate family members and those who had come into direct contact with infected individuals. 

Meanwhile, two police officers and two members of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) who had gone to the house to check on a navy soldier in Aranayake who had returned on leave have been directed to self-quarantine after the individual was confirmed as a COVID-19 patient. 

By Pradeep Kumara Dharmaratne