Police have recommenced questioning the Covid-19 patient who escaped from the National Infectious Diseases Hospital on Friday (24) morning after it was revealed that he had provided false information earlier.
According to the Police, the suspect had provided false information on the route he took after he escaped from the hospital around 2 am on Friday.
The patient, a 41-year-old resident of China Bay, Trincomalee had been an inmate at the Kandakadu Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre when he had tested positive for Covid-19. He had been receiving treatment at the IDH when he escaped. He was later apprehended and sent back to the IDH.
Following revelations, the Sri Lanka Army and intelligence services also launched an operation to track down any person who may have come into close contact with him after his escape. The driver of the three-wheeler in which he had travelled had already been sent to the Kandakadu quarantine centre. The authorities have assured that all others who may have had contact with him will also be sent for quarantine to ensure there is no spread in the community. Investigations are also under way to ascertain as to how the patient had escaped from the IDH undetected.
According to the National Operations Centre for Prevention of Covid -19 572 patients had been detected at the Kandakadu Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre, which includes inmates, counsellors and their associates. It is the second largest Covid-19 cluster reported in the country.
Sri Lanka has reported 2,764 Covid-19 positive patients to date while 2,103 have recovered and were discharged. Six hundred and fifty are still receiving treatment, according to a spokesman for the Epidemiology Unit of the Ministry of Health.