The World Health Organization (WHO) says that the Covid test positive rate (TPR) in Sri Lanka has risen by 15.8 percent in the past week.
The weekly report, published on August 20, covers the situation in the region from August 9 to August 15.
During the last week, there was a 33.9% increase in the number of new covid infections compared to the previous week, with 24,974 cases reported during the week.
For the fifth week in a row, an increase in number of covid patients in Sri Lanka has been reported, the report said.
The report also states that the number of Covid patients has increased in all the provinces except the Central Province over the previous week.
For the 32nd week in a row, the highest number of Covid infections has been reported from the Western Province. That percentage is 57%.
About 45% of Covid patients reported in the country last week were from the Colombo and Gampaha districts.
More than 50 percent of new cases have been reported in the southern and northwestern provinces when compared to last week. The incidence of Covid infections in the Southern Province is 13%.
It also states that the covid death rate in Sri Lanka as at August 15 was 1.7%.
In terms of vaccination, Sri Lanka ranks third in South Asia and Southeast Asia. According to the report, 22.3% of the population in the country has been fully vaccinated.
The Maldives, which is ahead of Sri Lanka, has vaccinated 62.8% of its population and Bhutan 54.3%.
There are three variants of Covid found in Sri Lanka, namely Alpha, Beta and Delta.
Sri Lanka has given the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to 54.58% of the total population and the second dose to 22.61% of the population and hence has been fully vaccinated.
The Ministry of Health has issued revised guidelines on restricting inter-provincial travel from August 16 to 31, 2021. According to the new guidelines, only one person will be allowed to go out of the house and buy essentials in all shopping malls.
According to the report, the Government of Sri Lanka has adopted and implemented the concept of Intermediate Treatment Centers (ICCs) as a cost-effective and immediate solution to deal with the rapidly increasing number of Covid infections.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says the government has provided strong political leadership and commitment to implement it.
The Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Army, the Sri Lanka Navy, the Sri Lanka Air Force and selected private sector organizations, has been instrumental in establishing those intermediate treatment centers.
It also states that the World Health Organization has supported this effort by providing technical guidance and assistance with a number of essential medical equipment.
