More than 400,000 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests have been conducted so far in Sri Lanka, the National Operations Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOPCO) stated yesterday.

According to the NOPCO sources, around 8,071 PCR tests were carried out across the country on Thursday (22) and the total PCR tests conducted so far stands at 415,243.

As of yesterday (23) morning, another 309 persons were confirmed positive to COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. 188 of them were from Peliyagoda Fish Market, and the rest 121 from Minuwangoda garment factory-infected cluster.

The total number of COVID-19 positive cases reported from the Minuwangoda garment factory stands at 2,631 by yesterday morning. Of them, 1,328 are factory employees and other 1,303 are locally-identified contacts of those garment factory-infected employees.

Meanwhile, Flight 6E 9034 from Doha, Qatar with eight passengers and flight UL455 from Japan with nine expatriates arrived. All of them were sent to the Tri-Forces-managed quarantine centres after medical procedures.

Around 281 people left for their homes after completing quarantine yesterday. Of them, 198 persons are from the Quarantine Centres established in Koggala Long Beach, Rajagiriya Ayurvedic Hospital, Hotel Jetwing Beach, Jetwing Blue Waters, Camilet Beach, Mount Lavinia, Punnai and Norochcholai.

As of yesterday, 56,302 people had left for their homes after completing quarantine while 8,632 people in 73 Tri-Services managed quarantine centres are still in quarantine.

Sixty fully-recovered COVID-19 affected persons were discharged from hospitals as at last morning. Five of them are expatriates while 55 have been identified as close contacts of the Minuwangoda garment factory-infected employees who were in quarantine at quarantine centres.