Sri Lanka's 2/3rd of COVID-19 positive patients "Asymptomatic"

COLOMBO (News 1st): Sri Lanka administering Hydroxychloroquine to COVID-19 patients although there is limited evidence available on the effectiveness of the medicine, authorities said adding that country's 2/3rd of coronavirus positive patients are "Asymptomatic". "Out of the cases that tested positive, about 2/3rd were Asymptomatic, so we have a large number of asymptomatic cohort maybe because of higher number of testing we do in proportion to the population and it could also be because of the quarantine facilities and contact tracing conducted with the help of Sri Lanka Army, other forces and police," said Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama, the Chief Consultant Physician at the Infectious Disease Institute addressing the International Webinar on COVID-19 held on Thursday. Speaking about the critical cases of COVID-19, Dr. Jayawickrama said "Out of the symptomatic patients, Sri Lanka only had 16 severe cases from which seven patients passed away. Out of the seven deaths, one patient died at the time of admission and another couple of hours later. The other five were given ICU care, but in spite of intensive care, they died." Dr. Jayawickrama said that at present based on the limited evidence available, it has been recommended to administer "Hydroxychloroquine" to patients by Sri Lankan experts in the industry, and as such, COVID-19 patients are being given Hydroxychloroquine. "In fact, we are in the process of analyzing the response of patients as well as the viral clearance after giving them Hydroxychloroquine. In three severe cases we have tried giving convalescent plasma and we are in the process of collecting convalescent plasma and checking anti-bodies for future need," told Dr. Jayawickrama. The Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health (APACPH) in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) held an "International Webinar on COVID-19" on Thursday (30th April). The International webinar was held at the Sri Lanka Medical Association's Headquarters at the Wijerama House, with the participation of Commander of the Sri Lanka Army - Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, Director General of Health Services - Dr. Anil Jasinghe among other health experts, and it was moderated by President of the SLMA, Prof. Indika Karunatilake. Health experts from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore also joined the International Webinar.