In Sri Lanka, five persons were tested positive of COVID-19 today bringing the number of active cases to 223 while the government announced to carry out up to thousand tests daily to identify more patients.

The country has recorded 91 cases during last five days, a sharp increase from the normal. Seven persons have died and 105 recovered out of 335 infections reported so far.

The four high risk districts including Colombo are under continuous police curfew for around a month now. Colombo district has recorded maximum number of 10 cases so far.

Meanwhile, health ministry decided to obtain facilities at private hospitals to increase the number of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests carried out daily.

The authorities had said that around 800 PCR tests are carried out daily by the government hospitals and that the facilities at private hospitals should be obtained to increase the number of PCR tests.

In related development, a group of 101 Sri Lankan students who were stranded in India returned to the country today.

They were brought to Sri Lanka via a special flight from Amritsar chartered by Sri Lankan Airlines.

