• PCR tests on 154 persons test negative The results of five PCR tests subsequently conducted on the Covid-19-positive patient found in Jinthupitiya last week now confirm that the patient is not infected, as all tests conducted at the hospital came back negative, the Government Information Department said yesterday (5). Issuing a press statement, the Director General of the Government Information Department last evening confirmed that the man who was detected with Covid-19 in Colombo 13 is now confirmed to not be infected with the coronavirus and that the patient has now been discharged from the hospital. Furthermore, the PCR tests conducted on around 154 persons who had come into direct contact with the man detected as having Covid-19 in Colombo 13, have also brought back negative results. The individual from the Jinthupitiya area in Colombo 13 undergoing self-quarantine. The patient was identified as a Sri Lankan seafarer who returned from India. The seafarer had initially been subjected to a 14-day compulsory quarantine period at a quarantine centre, at which time a PCR test found that he had not contracted the virus. He was then subjected to 14 days of compulsory quarantine at his residence in Jinthupitiya, during which a routine test had revealed that he had contracted the virus. The 154 identified as having had close contact with the suspected person, who were sent to be quarantined at the Kandakadu Quarantine Centre, have now been sent back home, the Government Information Department noted. – Maheesha Mudugamuwa