52-yr-old tour guide becomes first COVID-19 positive case in Sri Lanka

A 52-year-old tour guide from Angoda became the first case of coronavirus in Sri Lanka, health authorities said on Wednesday.

The first case of the viral infection in the country was identified last night from the country's western province wherein the victim recalled that he had recently provided services to an Italian tour group, a media release issued by the Presidential Secretariat was cited by local Sri Lankan newspaper Daily Mirror.

Health officials further informed that preliminary tests conducted on the patient were positive for coronavirus, and therefore, he has been quarantined at the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) in Angoda for further treatment.

Earlier a 43-year-old Chinese tourist was found to be infected with the coronavirus upon her arrival and admitted to the IDH reporting the first case in Sri Lanka. The woman fully recovered from the infection and returned to China last month.

The coronavirus, officially known also COVID-19, was first detected last December in Wuhan, in central China, and has spread to across 107 countries worldwide.

The global death toll from the virus is now over 4,260, with more than 118,100 confirmed cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.