All personnel with COVID-19 infection in April recovered, no deaths reported, says Sri Lankan Navy

All the 906 Sri Lankan Navy personnel, who tested positive for the coronavirus in April while assisting health authorities to capture drug addicts with the infection, have recovered, the Navy said on Tuesday.

In early April the sailors at the Welisara Navy camp in a northern suburb were found positive for the COVID-19 after they assisted health authorities to apprehend a number of drug addicts who were to be quarantined.

The first Navy victim of COVID-19 was reported mid-April when the camp was ordered to be closed.

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''The Welisara Sri Lanka Navy cluster is no more infected as all 906 sailors have now recovered from the coronavirus,'' Captain Indika de Silva, who is also Navy's spokesperson, said.

Sri Lanka has so far recorded 2,728 COVID positive cases but only about 600 of them are currently in hospitals.
So far 11 deaths have been reported due to the contagious coronavirus.

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Sri Lanka is still grappling with its second largest cluster with over 500 cases from a drug rehabilitation center in the north central region.
A sudden spike two weeks ago nearly forced another lockdown as contact tracing from the drug center led to cases from many areas. However the authorities said the cluster had been brought under control.

The sudden spike led to more stringent application of quarantine laws with people being arrested on the streets for non-wearing of masks.

Sri Lanka is scheduled to hold parliamentary polls on August 5 and it was only last week that health guidelines for conducting the election were announced.