Coronavirus Updates

As of now...

Coronavirus Cases:
11,747,823

Deaths:
540,840

Recovered:
6,741,839

171,508 new cases world wide lower than yesterday.

3,583 more deaths similar to previous 24 hours

USA (50,586), India (22,510) & Brazil (21,486) are the three countries with highest number of new cases that drives the new cases.

Brazil (656), India (474) & USA (378) were the countries with highest new deaths for last 24 hours.

Coronavirus Cases:
11,954,942

Deaths:
546,720

Recovered:
6,902,358

208,087 new cases world wide higher than yesterday.

5,515 more deaths higher than previous 24 hours

USA (55,442), Brazil (48,584) & India (23,135) are the three countries with highest number of new cases that drives the new cases.

Brazil (1,312), USA (993) & Mexico (480) were the countries with highest new deaths for last 24 hours.

Sri Lanka COVID19: Welikada Prison hospital inmates test negative as officials scramble to trace infected prisoner’s contacts

ECONOMYNEXT – Tests for COVID 19 on 170 inmates of the Welikada Prison hospital have returned negative, officials said today.

The tests were done on the inmates in the infirmary after a recently transferred inmate tested positive for the Coronavirus

The inmate was transferred to the Welikada remand prison on June 27, from a drug rehabilitation centre in Kandakadu,’ the state information office said quoting the head of Sri Lanka’s Health Service, Dr Anil Jasinghe.

Col (Media) Vijitha Hettiarachchi who speaks for the National Task Force for the Prevention of COVID 19 said that tests are also being conducted at the Army-run Kandakadu Quarantine Centre.

Kandakadu houses some persons arrested on various drug-related offences as well as several returnee migrant workers, he told EconomyNext.

It is not yet clear whether the inmate tested positive for an anti-body test or a regular PCR test, he added.

In case it was an anti-body test then it would mean the man would have had the disease and recovered.

The infected inmate has had his case heard via the internet, Hettiarachchi said.

Sri Lanka has contained the spread of Coroanvirus through aggressive contact tracing and quarantine, though there had been a reluctance to test contacts and quarantine inmates.

Sri Lanka had confirmed 2,077 Coronavirus patients up to July 06, with about half of them coming from a Navy base.


All cases since April 30 until July 06 had come from the Navy cluster or foreign returnees in quarantine, the health ministry said.

Sri Lanka has seen spikes in Covid-19 cases partly due to weaknesses in the testing regime in the past including a Navy base.

(Colombo/July 08/2020)

As of now...

Coronavirus Cases:
12,164,119

Deaths:
552,023

Recovered:
7,030,006

213,280 new cases world wide higher than yesterday and very close to the highest number recorded so far.

5,518 more deaths similar to previous 24 hours

USA (61,848), Brazil (41,541) & India (25,571) are the three countries with highest number of new cases that drives the new cases. USA & India have recorded highest per day new infections

Brazil (1,187), USA (890) & Mexico (895) were the countries with highest new deaths for last 24 hours.

New COVID 19 Cluster may be emerging at the Kandakadu Rehabilitation Centre in Polonnaruwa

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka may be seeing the possibility of a new cluster of COVID 19 infected persons emerging after 56 inmates and staff at the Kandakadu Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre for drug-addicts tested positive for the Coronavirus today the Government Information Department said.

The new patients were discovered after 450 staff and inmates at the centre were given PCR tests after a Remand Prisoner at the Welikada jail tested positive two days ago.

He had been at Kandakadu in the Polonnaruwa district for rehabilitation for three months before he was brought to Welikada for his case to be heard.

The statement issued by the Director-General of Information Nalaka Kaluwewa said another COVID 19 positive woman was found in the Marawila area today.

She had been an instructor at the Kandakadu centre, Kaluwewa quoted the Director-General of Health Services Dr Anil Jasinghe as saying.

The Security Forces and the Health Services are continuing to test the inmates and the staff of the facility.

Informed sources said that some addicts who were transferred to Sri Lanka from jails in Middle-Eastern countries when workers and others were repatriated were also sent for rehabilitation to the centre.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Relations 87 Sri Lankans who were incarcerated in the Middle-East have been brought back to Sri Lanka.

It is not known how many of them are at Kandakadu.

The number detected today is the highest since June 3, when 66 COVID 19 positive patients were found according to the Epidemiological Unit of the Department of Health Services.


After the inmate was detected as COVID 19 positive at the Welikada Prison hospital on Tuesday the authorities send a total of 204 persons, inclusive of prison inmates and Prison Officers into various quarantine centres.

They conducted some 270 PCR tests of inmates and staff at Welikada but no-one tested positive.

They included inmates and staff from the Polonnaruwa, Welikada and Pallekelle jails, a statement from the Task Force to Prevent COVID 19 said.

They are all persons the infected inmate may have come into contact with.

Having a COVID 19 patient in Sri Lanka’s grossly overcrowded Prison is a nightmare the authorities do not want to deal with.

On Tuesday Prison officials closed off the prison for family visits prompting demonstrations outside the Welikada jail.

Most of Sri Lanka’s COVID 19 positive cases have come from two clusters, one at the sprawling Naval base at Welisara and the other from migrant workers returning from various countries in the Middle-East and Europe.

Yesterday another worker who returned from Iran tested positive.

Sri Lanka has not seen a community transmitted case since April 30, according to the Epidemiological Unit of the Department of Health Services. (Colombo, July 09, 2020)

Just saw an announcement that random PCR tests to be done in Colombo....Has multiple implications . Everyone maintain social distancing, wash hands and wear masks

As of now.

Coronavirus Cases:
12,390,734

Deaths:
557,416

Recovered:
7,221,101

223,189 new cases world wide higher than yesterday and surpassing the highest per day cases reported so far establishing new record!!!

5,409 more deaths similar to previous 24 hours

USA (61,067), Brazil (42,907) & India (25,790) are the three countries with highest number of new cases that drives the new cases.

Brazil (1,199), USA (960) & Mexico (782) were the countries with highest new deaths for last 24 hours.

Are we in a threat of second wave in SL?

Sri Lanka may find more COVID 19 cases at virus struck rehabilitation centre – Army Chief

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lankan authorities are doing their best to prevent an outbreak of COVID 19 in a drug rehabilitation centre from spreading into the community, the country’s Chief of Armed Forces has said.

Army Commander Lt General Shavendra Silva said the investigation as to how inmates of the facility in Kandakadu in the Polonnaruwa district became infected is still on-going.

Silva, who is heading the country’s National Operations Center for Prevention of COVID 19, said it is “possible that we find more cases in the Kandakadu facility.”

He revealed that several addicts who had been found COVID 19 positive and were quarantined in Army-run centres had been brought for rehabilitation to Kandakadu after 14 days.

“At that time they had tested negative for the virus,” he said.

The probe began after an inmate of the rehabilitation centre tested positive for the Coronavirus when he was checked at the main Welikada Prison in the capital Colombo where he had been moved for a court hearing.

Some 200 fellow inmates in Welikada were tested and were found negative but tests at Kandakadu found 56 COVID 19 positive cases.

One Woman Counsellor from Kandakadu who was on leave was also tested and found positive and her family members in Marawila have now been quarantined, Silva said.

Eight other staff members who had gone home are being brought back to Kandakadu, Silva who is the Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces said.

“The President and the Prime Minister have asked us to take all possible steps to prevent this outbreak from going into the community at large,” he told Media in a video release last night July 9.


It has been three days since the inmate at the Welikada jail was detected and despite the deployment of Armed Forces and Health services personnel it has not been possible to find out how he may have contracted the disease.

Apart from the possibility that he got it from other people intended for rehabilitation as the Commander said there is a chance that he may have got it from Sri Lankan migrant workers who returned.

Official sources said that some drug addicts who were transferred to Sri Lanka from jails in Middle-Eastern countries when workers and others were repatriated were also sent for rehabilitation to the centre.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Relations 87 Sri Lankans who were incarcerated in the Middle-East have been brought back to Sri Lanka because they had been on deportation orders.

It is not known how many of them are at Kandakadu.

The number detected at Kandakadu is the highest since June 3, when 66 COVID 19 positive patients were found according to the Epidemiological Unit of the Department of Health Services.

After the inmate was detected as COVID 19 positive at the Welikada Prison hospital on Tuesday the authorities send a total of 204 persons, inclusive of prison inmates and Prison Officers into various quarantine centres.

They conducted some 270 PCR tests of inmates and staff at Welikada but no-one tested positive.

They included inmates and staff from the Polonnaruwa, Welikada and Pallekelle jails, a statement from the Task Force to Prevent COVID 19 said.

They are all persons the infected inmate may have come into contact with.

Having a COVID 19 patient in Sri Lanka’s grossly overcrowded Prison is a nightmare the authorities do not want to deal with.

On Tuesday Prison officials closed off the prison for family visits prompting demonstrations outside the Welikada jail.


Most of Sri Lanka’s COVID 19 positive cases have come from two clusters, one at the sprawling Naval base at Welisara and the other from migrant workers returning from various countries in the Middle-East and Europe. (Colombo, July 10, 2020)

Sri Lanka finds more than 200 COVID 19 patients at Kandakadu Rehabilitation Centre Cluster

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lankan authorities have found 252 COVID 19 positive patients in a drug rehabilitation centre in the North Central Province and are trying to prevent the virus from spreading into the community, officials said.

An announcement from the Director-General Government Information Nalaka Kaluwewa said in all 338 inmates and staff in the centre have been given PCR tests.

More tests of staff and inmates are on-going and they are likely to yield more cases an announcement released a short while ago said.

In addition to the 56 detected yesterday a further 196 were detected today taking the total at Kandakadu to 252.

Army Commander Lt General Shavendra Silva said the investigation as to how inmates of the facility in Kandakadu in the Polonnaruwa district became infected is still on-going.

Silva, who is heading the country’s National Operations Center for Prevention of COVID 19, said it is “possible that we find more cases in the Kandakadu facility.”

He revealed that several addicts who had been found COVID 19 positive and were quarantined in Army-run centres had been brought for rehabilitation to Kandakadu after 14 days.

“At that time they had tested negative for the virus,” he said.

The probe began after an inmate of the rehabilitation centre tested positive for the Coronavirus when he was checked at the main Welikada Prison in the capital Colombo where he had been moved for a court hearing.

Some 200 fellow inmates in Welikada were tested and were found negative but tests at Kandakadu found 56 COVID 19 positive cases yesterday July 9.


One Woman Counsellor from Kandakadu who was on leave was also tested and found positive and her family members in Marawila have now been quarantined, Silva said.

Eight other staff members who had gone home are being brought back to Kandakadu, Silva who is the Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces said.

“The President and the Prime Minister have asked us to take all possible steps to prevent this outbreak from going into the community at large,” he told Media in a video released last night.

It has been three days since the inmate at the Welikada jail was detected and despite the deployment of Armed Forces and Health services personnel it has not been possible to find out how he may have contracted the disease.

Apart from the possibility that he got it from other people intended for rehabilitation as the Commander said there is a chance that he may have got it from Sri Lankan migrant workers who returned.

Official sources said that some drug addicts who were transferred to Sri Lanka from jails in Middle-Eastern countries when workers and others were repatriated were also sent for rehabilitation to the centre.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Relations 87, Sri Lankans who were incarcerated in the Middle-East have been brought back to Sri Lanka because they had been on deportation orders.

It is not known how many of them are at Kandakadu.

The number detected at Kandakadu is the highest since June 3, when 66 COVID 19 positive patients were found according to the Epidemiological Unit of the Department of Health Services.

After the inmate was detected as COVID 19 positive at the Welikada Prison hospital on Tuesday the authorities send a total of 204 persons, inclusive of prison inmates and Prison Officers into various quarantine centres.

They conducted some 270 PCR tests of inmates and staff at Welikada but no-one tested positive.

They included inmates and staff from the Polonnaruwa, Welikada and Pallekelle jails, a statement from the Task Force to Prevent COVID 19 said.


They are all persons the infected inmate may have come into contact with.

Having a COVID 19 patient in Sri Lanka’s grossly overcrowded Prison is a nightmare the authorities do not want to deal with.

On Tuesday Prison officials closed off the prison for family visits prompting demonstrations outside the Welikada jail.

Most of Sri Lanka’s COVID 19 positive cases have come from two clusters, one at the sprawling Naval base at Welisara and the other from migrant workers returning from various countries in the Middle-East and Europe. (Colombo, July 10, 2020)

Dow Jones Rallies 220 Points To Lead Stock Market; Is A Coronavirus Vaccine Near?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average extended its gains to 200 points midday as the stock market got a boost from bullish coronavirus vaccine news.
The Dow Jones industrials rose 0.8%, the S&P 500 added 0.4% and the Nasdaq was fractionally higher in the stock market today. Small caps tracked by the Russell 2000 rallied 1%. Volume was lower on both major exchanges vs. the same time Thursday.

For the week, the Nasdaq is on track for a 3.3% jump. The S&P 500 is eyeing a 1% gain and the Dow Jones index sees a 0.2% advance.

Despite this week's volatility, the coronavirus stock market rally remains intact. A resurgence in tech stocks had lifted the tech-heavy Nasdaq to a 18% year-to-date gain through Thursday's close, while the S&P 500 was down 2% and the Dow off 10%. Small caps continue to lag, with the Russell 2000 down 16%.
While the stock market has been in a confirmed uptrend since the April 2 follow-through day for the S&P 500, it's had hiccups as fears of a second Covid-19 wave increase. (Read The Big Picture for a detailed analysis on daily market action.)

Covid-19 Update
Worldwide coronavirus cases topped 12.4 million, with nearly 560,000 deaths, according to Worldometer. In the U.S., confirmed cases are now over 3.2 million, with the death toll approaching 136,000
As the U.S. economy reopens, several states are experiencing record levels of new Covid-19 cases, and hospitalizations, as case counts rise. Texas, one of the hardest hit states with new case spikes, last week halted its reopening.

Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan and Texas have since re-closed bars. Though deaths have remained low, they hit their highest level since June 10 on Tuesday, as the U.S. added more than 55,000 coronavirus cases.

As the race for a coronavirus treatment or vaccine continues, Gilead Sciences (GILD) gained 2.5% in above-average volume to retake its 50-day moving average line. The biotech said its experimental Covid-19 treatment, remdesivir, reduced the risk of death by 62% in a Phase 3 trial.

Meantime, BioNTech (BNTX) soared 6% in nearly triple normal trade. The German biotech and partner Pfizer (PFE) said they expect their coronavirus vaccine to be ready for approval by year end. They expect to produce 1 billion doses next year. Pfizer advanced 1%.

Banks Gain Ahead Of Earnings
Airlines, banks and movie-related stocks led the upside among IBD's 197 industry groups. But networking, solar and software stocks lagged.

JPMorgan (JPM) and Goldman Sachs (GS), up nearly 3% each, were the biggest Dow gainers. JPMorgan sits 33% below its 52-week high as it continues to trade under its 50-day moving average.

Goldman, 18% off its 52-week high, is adding a handle to a deep base with a 48% correction. The potential buy point is 223.08, according to MarketSmith chart analysis. Both banks are scheduled to report earnings next week.

Among other blue chips, Dow Inc. (DOW), Chevron (CVX) and Raytheon Technologies (RTX) rose more than 2% apiece.

But Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple (AAPL) gave up a respective 1% and 0.5%. Both IBD Leaderboard stocks have shown strength in the coronavirus market rally. They marked new closing highs Thursday, and are well extended from buy points.
Over in the IBD 50, Zynex (ZYXI) led with a 15% surge in fast turnover to a new record high. Shares have rallied more than 110% since clearing a 13.86 buy point of a cup with handle in April.

The medical devices maker on Thursday said Q2 orders rose 37% year over year and boosted its full-year sales estimates to a range from $80 million to $85 million, from earlier guidance for $78 million to $83 million.

New High For Netflix
Netflix (NFLX) popped 4% in heavy trade to a new high. The streaming services giant is expected to post big subscriber numbers when it reports Q2 earnings on Thursday. But some analysts think that may already be priced into the stock, given its recent run up.

Shares are extended from a 459.07 buy point of a flat base. Netflix's relative strength line, which compares a stock's performance to the S&P 500, is at a new high — a bullish sign.

The Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) edged just 0.1% higher as GSX Techedu (GSX), PayPal (PYPL) and Regeneron Pharmaceutical (REGN) weighed.

COLOMBO (News 1st) : කොරෝනා රෝගය සමාජයේ ව්‍යාප්තිය වැළැක්වීම සඳහා සියලු ක්‍රියාමාර්ග ගෙන ඇතැයි, යුද හමුදාපති ලුතිනන් ජෙනරාල් ශවේන්ද්‍ර සිල්වා මහතා පවසයි.
විශේෂ ප්‍රකාශයක් නිකුත් කරමින් ඔහු කියා සිටියේ මේ වනවිට කන්දකාඩු පුනරුථාපන මධ්‍යස්ථානයේ පුද්ගලයින් 253 දෙනෙකු කොවිඩ් ආසාදිතයින් ලෙස හඳුනා ගෙන ඇති බවයි.

ඔවුන්ට එම මධ්‍යස්ථානය තුළදීම ප්‍රතිකාර සිදුකරන බව ද යුද හමුදාපතිවරයා ප්‍රකාශ කළේ ය.

මෙම කඳවුරු තුළ මත්ද්‍රව්‍යට ඇබ්බැහි වූ හා එහි කාර්ය මණ්ඩලය ඇතුළුව 1150කට ආසන්න සංඛ්‍යාවක් සිටින අතර ඔවුන් සියලු දෙනා PCR වෙත යොමු කර තිබේ.

ඉන් මේ වනවිට ලැබී ඇත්තේ, 375කගේ පමණ පිරිසකගේ PCR ප්‍රතිඵල පමණක් බවත් යුද හමුදාපතිවරයා පැවසී ය.

යුද හමුදාපතිවරයා ප්‍රකාශ කළේ , අනෙක් පිරිසගේ PCR ප්‍රතිඵල ලැබීමට නියමිත අතර ඒ අතරින් ද කොරෝනා ආසාදිතයින් වාර්තා විය හැකි බවයි.

තවද පුනරුථාපන මධ්‍යස්ථානයේ සිටි නිවාඩු ගොස් සිටින කාර්ය මණ්ඩල පිරිස් යළි කැඳවීමට අවශ්‍ය කටයුතු සළසා ඇති බව ද යුද හමුදාපතිවරයා පැවසී ය.

කොරෝනා ආසාදිතයින් පිළිබඳව හා ගම්මාන හුදෙකලා කර ඇති බවට පැතිර යන කටකතාවල කිසිදු සත්‍යතාවක් නොමැති බව අවධාරණය කළ යුද හමුදාපතිවරයා පැවසූවේ, එවැනි තත්ත්වයක් පවතී නම්, පෙර පරිදි ඒ පිළිබඳව ජනතාව දැනුවත් කරන බවයි.

මේ නිසා පැතිරී යන කටකතාවලට නොරැවටෙන ලෙස ද යුද හමුදාපති ලුතිනන් ජෙනරාල් ශවේන්ද්‍ර සිල්වා මහතා ජනතාවගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටී.

දිනක් තුල වාර්තා වූ වැඩිම කොරෝනා පොකුර කන්දකාඩු මධ්‍යස්ථානයෙන් - සමාජයට බලපෑම අවමයි



කන්දකාඩු මත්ද්‍රව්‍යවලට ඇබ්බැහිවූවන් පුනරුත්ථාපන කිරීමේ මධ්‍යස්ථානයේ රැදවියන්ගෙන් බහුතරයකට කොරෝනා වෛරසය ආසාදනය වී ඇතැයි සෞඛ්‍ය සේවා අධ්‍යක්‍ෂ ජනරාල් විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍ය අනිල් ජාසිංහ පවසනවා.

කෙසේවෙතත් කෙටි කාලයක් තුළ කන්දකාඩු කොරෝනා පොකුර අවම කර ගැනීමට හැකි වනු ඇති බවයි ඔහු කියාසිටියේ.

පවතින තත්ත්වය මත ප‍්‍රදේශ හුදෙකලා කිරීමක් හෝ දැඩි සීමා පැනවීමේ අවශ්‍යතාවක් නොමැති බවයි සෞඛ්‍ය සේවා අධ්‍යක්‍ෂ ජනරාල්වරයා සදහන් කළේ.

මෙරටින් දිනක් තුළ වාර්තා වූ වැඩිම කොරෝනා ආසාදිතයින් ඊයේ වාර්තා වුණේ කන්දකාඩු මත්ද්‍රව්‍යවලට ඇබ්බැහිවූවන් පුනරුත්ථාපන කිරීමේ මධ්‍යස්ථානයෙන් ද ආසාදිතයින් රැසක් වාර්තාවීමත් සමගයි.

ඊයේ දිනයේ හදුනා ගැණුනු කොරෝනා ආසාදිතයින් ගණන 296ක්. ඔවුන්ගෙන් 283 දෙනෙකුම වාර්තා වන්නේ කන්දකාඩු පුනරුත්ථාපන මධ්‍යස්ථානයෙන්. එම මධ්‍යස්ථානයෙන් මෙතෙක් හදුනාගෙන ඇති කොරෝනා ආසාදිතයින් සංඛ්‍යාව 339 ක් වනවා.

කොරෝනා වෛරසය ආසාදනය වූ කන්දකාඩු මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය නිරෝධායන මධ්‍යස්ථානයේ සේවයේ යෙදී සිටි උපදේශිකාව තවදුරටත් රෝහල්ගතව ප‍්‍රතිකාර ලබන බව පුත්තලම දිස්ති‍්‍රක් සෞඛ්‍ය සේවා අධ්‍යක්‍ෂ වෛද්‍ය දිනූෂා ප‍්‍රනාන්දු නෙත් නිවුස් වෙත සදහන් කළා. ඇය කියාසිටියේ අදාළ කාන්තාවගේ මවගේ පී සී ආර් පරීක්‍ෂණයේ ප‍්‍රතිඵල ලැබීමට ඇති බවයි.
ඪධෂක්‍ෑ ක්‍ඹඔ : ෘඍ ෘෂභඹී්‍ය් 02 *
මේ අතර කන්දකාඩු පුනරුත්ථාපන මධ්‍යස්ථානයේ සේවය කරන කාර්ය මණ්ඩලයේ නිවාඩු ගිය පිරිස්වල පවුලේ සාමාජිකයන්ද නිවෙස්වල ස්වයං නිරෝධායනට ලක් කර ඇති බව යුද හමුදාපති ලූතිතන් ජෙනරාල් ශවේන්ද්‍ර සිල්වා පැවසුවා. එම මධ්‍යස්ථානයේ රාජකාරී කරන නිවාඩු ලබා නිවෙස්වල ගිය සාමාජිකයින් ගෙන්වා ගැනීමටද කටයුතු කර ඇති බවයි යුද හමුදාපතිවරයා වැඩිදුරටත් සදහන් කළේ

As of now...

Coronavirus Cases:
12,647,025

Deaths:
563,260

Recovered:
7,382,536

236,918 new cases world wide higher than yesterday and surpassing the highest per day cases reported so far establishing new record!!!

5,416 more deaths similar to previous 24 hours

USA (71,787), Brazil (45,235) & India (27,761) are the three countries with highest number of new cases that drives the new cases. USA once again increased their highest per day count and India too. This trend is a really bad one for the world due to a USA being the largest economy of the world & India is our next door nabour.

Brazil (1,270), USA (849) & Mexico (730) were the countries with highest new deaths for last 24 hours.

Sri Lanka finds 300 Coronavirus cases as Kandakadu cluster expands, over 1000 to be tested

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has confirmed 300 new Coronavirus cases on July 10 as authorities traced and tested inmates, staff and contacts of two drug rehabilitation centres and a top official said contacts and visitors the centres are being traced and quarantined quickly.

Authorities had brought back staff on leave and intelligence officers also quarantining visitors who had seen 116 inmates on July 04, Sri Lanka’s military chief Shavendra Silva was quoted as saying by the state information office.

Sri Lanka has got results of 375 tests conducted among 1,150 staff and inmates of two camps run by the Ministry of Justice in Kandakadu and Senapura in Polonnaruwa district, General Silva said and more results were due later on July 10 and July 11.

A quarantine camp in Kandakadu run by the military has been converted into a hospital to treat them.

General Silva said there was a total of 1,150 inmates directed by court to the rehabilitation centre and staff.

By the morning of July 10, tests results of 375 test showed that another 196 had Coronavirus, taking the total found to 253.

“It is likely that more will be found,” General Silva said. “The results are expected later on July 10 and the next morning.”

By 2030 hours 300 cases had been confirmed health ministry data showed.

Sri Lanka had confirmed 2450 Coronavirus cases by 9 July with 296 being confirmed on July 10 according to health ministry data

Staff of the drug rehabilitation centres who had gone on leave had been located and brought back, General Sival said. Their family members have been asked to self-isolate.


General Silva said in May and April no visitors were allowed to come to the centres.

But on July 04, 116 persons were allowed to meet relatives under social distancing.

Intelligence officers now tracing and quarantining them.

“Some have already been quarantined,” General Silva said. “We are taking action to stop the transmission of this virus to the community.”

The cluster was first discovered when an infected person was confirmed in Colombo’s Welikada prison who had been transferred there from a drug rehabilitation camp in Kandakadu.

Staff and inmates of Welikada prison had tested negative to PCR tests. Usually, it takes 14 days or more for contacts to develop the disease. The statement did not say whether they will be isolated and tested again.

After testing those connected to the Kandakadu rehabilitation 57 had been confirmed. Among them was a camp counselor, who had gone on leave to Marawila, Naththandiya.

Her parents and neighbhours have been taken to a quarantine centre.

The statement did not say whether they had been tested. If they test positive a second level of contacts have to be isolated.

Upul Rohana, a public health inspector told local television that political rallies had been held in the area without proper social distancing. (Colombo/July10/2020)

Sri Lanka’s newest COVID 19 cluster linked to another that erupted in April – Dr Anil Jasinghe

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s newest COVID 19 cluster that has produced more than 300 new cases is linked directly to a cluster that emerged at Suduwella in April the country’s top Health official said.

The Director-General of Health Services Dr Anil Jasinghe said that the cluster “has a link to the Suduwella group,” referring to a group of drug addicts that were found to be COVID 19 positive in early to mid-April.

The current cluster is inside a rehabilitation camp for drug addicts and the patients are inmates, staff members and their families.

“The Kandakadu cluster is a development of the Suduwella cluster,” Jasinghe said adding that more such clusters may erupt.

The drug-addicts who tested positive at Suduwella had been quarantined and when they were released were sent for rehabilitation to Kandakadu, officials said.

That is probably how the inmates at the camp became infected.

Between 600 and 800 more PCR tests were done today at the Kandakadu and the neighboring Senapura rehab centres and the results are expected later tonight with officials braced to deal with at least another 300 cases.

Infant among those infected

Among those infected and hospitalized outside the camp but with connections to Kandakadu are a one-and-a-half-year-old infant and an eleven-year-old boy from the same family from Rajangana in the Anuradhapura district, officials told reporters.

The children’s father is a staff member at the Rehabilitation camp and has tested positive for the virus, while the mother appears to be free of the disease. Today another positive case was reported from Rajangana said to be a close contact of the camp staffer.


Nine other Coronavirus cases have been reported with at least two linked to the latest cluster. The results of the tests done inside the COVID 19 struck camp had not been received as of this writing.

The cluster had caused the Health Authorities to test more than a thousand inmates and staff at the Kandakadu and Senapura rehabilitation camps in Polonnaruwa. The two camps are located several kilometres apart.

The country’s military chief who heads the COVID 19 prevention operation in the country said that hundreds of PCR tests are being done and “the number of patients is definitely going to rise.”


Army Chief Lt Gen Shavendra Silva

In a sweeping wide-ranging operation that spread throughout most of the country the government placed nearly two thousand people in quarantine over the last two days, Army Commander Lt General Shavendra Silva said.

Nearly two thousand quarantined

Silva said the newest cluster was discovered when an inmate at the main prison in the country, Welikada tested positive on July 7.

He had been brought to Colombo from Kandakadu for a court hearing and under the new rules prisoners, when they are moved to another jail, have to undergo a mandatory PCR test.

After that 312 tests had been done and none returned positive, Silva said.

There were 242 inmates who were in Welikada and moved to other jails. While we were testing them 204 inmates were taken for quarantine at the Punani Army-run centre under the control of Prison Officials, he said

There was also another group of 62 who had been released from jail by the courts. We brought them back and they are currently being quarantined.

PCR tests are being continued at Welikada and yesterday, July 10, another person tested positive.

Kandakadu and Senapura have 1,141 inmates and staff. The inmates are those who have been ordered by the courts to go into rehabilitation and is run under the Ministry of Justice.


One woman counsellor who was on leave had gone home to Nattandiya has contracted the virus and her family and four neighbouring families have been moved to an Army-run quarantine centre.

The staff member from Rajangana had attended a funeral and an alms-giving ceremony once he went there and around 200 people who came for the funeral and the subsequent events are in self-quarantine, Silva said.

The authorities also found that the 11-year old boy who is now in the hospital had been attending a tuition class and all 70 students and teachers there have also been quarantined.

Meanwhile, another staff member who lives in Habaraduwa has tested positive and is now warded at the National Infectious Diseases Hospital in Mulleriyawa. His family and neighbours have been quarantined.


NEW CLUSTER – Inmates and staff at the Kandakadu Rehabilitation Centre are being tested as 300 new patients are discovered/bcgr.gov.lk

Staff members who had gone on leave have also been recalled and they and their families are housed at a facility at Katukeliyawa he said, where PCR tests will be conducted.

The Army chief also said that a military-run quarantine centre in Kandakadu has now been turned into a separate hospital to treat the COVID 19 positive inmates.

“These are recovering drug addicts and they have to be treated in a different way as they are not like normal patients,” he said.

“We feel it is best to look after them here.”


The third group the authorities are working with are the family members of the inmates who had been permitted to visit them on July 4.

“There are 116 family members who came to see the inmates and they and their family members total 441 people and we are in the process of bringing them into quarantine centres,” he said.

Of them, 328 have already been brought to the Kandakadu Quarantine centre and the rest have been picked up and are on their way there. (Colombo July 11, 2020)

As of now...

Coronavirus Cases:
12,841,504

Deaths:
567,628

Recovered:
7,478,129

214,741 new cases world wide lower than yesterday.

4,996 more deaths lower than previous 24 hours

USA (61,719), Brazil (36,474) & India (27,755) are the three countries with highest number of new cases that drives the new cases.

Brazil (968), USA (732) & Mexico (665) were the countries with highest new deaths for last 24 hours.

More than 3,258,400 people in the United States have been infected with the coronavirus and at least 134,500 have died, according to a New York Times database. This map shows where the number of new cases is rising and where it is falling in the last 14 days.

Case numbers are surging throughout much of the United States, including in several states that were among the first to reopen. Because the number of people hospitalized and the percentage of people testing positive is also rising in many of those places, the case spike cannot be solely explained by increased testing. Still, coronavirus deaths remain well below their peak levels. And as some places reimpose restrictions, others continue to reopen their economies.

These states have had recent growth in newly reported cases over the last 14 days. The White House released criteria for states to reopen based on a “downward trajectory” of cases over the last 14 days, though it did not define how to measure the trajectory.



These states have had the highest growth in newly reported deaths over the last 14 days. Deaths tend to rise a few weeks after a rise in infections, as there is typically a delay between when people are infected, when they die and when deaths are reported. Some deaths reported in the last two weeks may have occurred much earlier because of these delays.

In late February, there were just a few dozen known cases in the United States, most of them linked to travel. But by early summer, the virus had torn through every state, infecting more people than the combined populations of Wyoming, South Dakota and Washington, D.C. The national death toll exceeded the population of Topeka, Kan. And after weeks of progress, reports of new cases reached record levels in late June and early July.

American life has been fundamentally reordered because of the virus. Concerts, parades and baseball games have been called off. Unemployment claims have spiked. And in most states, case numbers are rising again.

The New York Times is engaged in a comprehensive effort to track the details of every coronavirus case in the United States, collecting information from federal, state and local officials around the clock. The numbers in this article are being updated several times a day based on the latest information our journalists are gathering from around the country. The Times has made that data public in hopes of helping researchers and policymakers as they seek to slow the pandemic and prevent future ones.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html#states