COLOMBO – Sailors at a Sri Lankan naval base have become the biggest cluster of coronavirus infections in the Indian Ocean island nation with 248 testing positive for the disease, authorities said Thursday.
Sri Lanka’s army chief Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva said that out of 30 cases discovered in the last 24 hours, 22 are navy sailors and another seven had close contact with them.
The virus is believed to have entered the camp on the outskirts of the capital, Colombo, last week when sailors were deployed to hunt down a group of drug addicts who had contact with a COVID-19 patient and were evading quarantine.
The virus then spread to different parts of the country when sailors went on home leave. About 4,000 navy troops are being quarantined