By Susitha Fernando

Colombo, Oct 17 (IANS): Amid a spike in the number of cases, Sri Lankan health officials have warned of a major dengue outbreak in the coming weeks due to the continued heavy rain.

So far this year, Sri Lanka has recorded over 61,000 dengue cases, compared to around 20,000 that were reported in the first 10 months of 2021.

The disease has also claimed three lives.

According to the National Dengue Control Unit, majority of the cases have been reported from the Western Province with highest recorded in the Colombo district.

Meanwhile, some 15,400 families have been affected by the floods caused by heavy rain that is predicted to continue till Wednesday.

Five houses and nine businesses have been fully damaged, while nearly 200 houses were partially damaged.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has directed officials to provide food, medicines and other essentials to those affected by the rain and floods and 36 relief teams from the Sri Lanka Navy have been kept on standby for relief and rescue operations.