Health Ministry refutes rumours of lower testing rates Number of daily cases below 1000

By Sheain Fernandopulle  

Responding to reports where it is stated that number of daily cases has gone down due to the lower testing rates, the Health Ministry said there is nothing of that sort.   
Speaking to Daily Mirror, Health Promotion Bureau (HPB) Director Dr. Ranjith Batuwanthudawa said with the number of COVID-19 cases going down, it is normal that number of testing is also reduced.  

“When the number of cases is going down, the number of contacts also goes down resulting in fewer numbers of testing. It’s not vice versa,” he underscored.   

Elaborating more on the situation, Dr Batuwanthudawa said there is no demand for PCR and Antigen tests when the number of contacts is decreasing as a result of total reduction in real infections.

Meanwhile, commenting on the considerable decline in the number of deaths which was at eight on March 7, he said in a situation where Sri Lanka has crossed 50 per cent of booster rollout, it is expected that the number of deaths and cases would decrease.

The number of daily cases is currently reported below 1,000.