The Latest: Sri Lanka postpones school reopening for virusAuthorities in Sri Lanka have extended the school holidays for two more weeks, postponing the opening of classes amid a surge of COVID-19 patients from two clusters in Colombo and the capital's suburbs
November 3, 2020, 4:45 AM
11 min read
Share to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Authorities in Sri Lanka have extended the school holidays for two more weeks, postponing the opening of classes amid a surge of COVID-19 patients from two clusters in Colombo and the capital’s suburbs.
Schools had been scheduled to reopen Nov. 9, but the government announced Tuesday that classes would not resume until Nov. 23.
Schools were suddenly closed last month as a precautionary measure after a new cluster of coronavirus infections centered on a garment factory erupted in the densely populated Western province, where the capital is. Another cluster centered on the country’s main fish market arose later.
The two clusters have now grown to 7,856 confirmed cases, with 275 in the previous 24 hours. The total caseload for the pandemic stands at 11,335 with 21 deaths from COVID-19.
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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
— America stands at a crossroads the day before Election Day, facing a stark choice between candidates in the midst of historic pandemic
— U.S. hospitals are scrambling to hire more nurses as the coronavirus pandemic surges, leading to stiff competition and increased costs
— Germany kicks off a partial lockdown, as several European countries tighten restrictions this week
— The BBC says Britain’s Prince William had the virus in April, around the same time as his father Prince Charles
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— Follow AP’s coronavirus pandemic coverage at and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
NEW DELHI, India — India has registered 38,310 confirmed coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, maintaining an overall downturn even as fresh infections continue to appear in its capital, New Delhi.
The Health Ministry on Tuesday also reported 490 more fatalities from COVID-19, raising the overall death toll to 1,23,097.
With a total of 8.2 million coronavirus cases during the pandemic, India is the second worst-hit country behind the United States. But it has been witnessing a steady fall in daily cases.
Still, health officials say New Delhi remains in the grip of its third and worst wave of infections yet. In the past week, there were more than 5,200 cases on average every day. The Health Ministry attributes the city's surge to the festival season, with people crowding markets for shopping.
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TOPEKA, Kan. — A surge in confirmed coronavirus cases in Kansas is hitting some of the state’s most rural counties hard and has officials in even urban areas worrying that people aren’t following public health advice closely enough.
Of the 20 Kansas counties with the largest number of new cases per 1,000 residents in the past two weeks, all but two have fewer than 10,000 residents, and a dozen of them have fewer than 3,000.
But health officials elsewhere say the virus is also spreading because people are still going to family gathering such as weddings, baby showers and barbecues. The health officer in the state’s most populous county of Johnson County in the Kansas City area says 20% of its cases since Sept. 1 are people infecting others in their own households.
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OMAHA, Neb. — The surge in COVID-19 cases in Nebraska has led to record-high hospitalizations that are straining the state’s health care system, officials said Monday.
