Sri Lanka's overall coronavirus caseload has surpassed the 40,000 mark after 500 more people tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry said.

The total patient count reached 40,282, out of which 32,051 patients had recovered and been discharged from hospitals, bringing down the active patient count to 8,045, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying in its latest update on Saturday.

A total of 186 deaths have been reported from the virus, according to the Health Ministry.

Sri Lanka is presently in the midst of a second wave of the virus after two new clusters were reported in October, one from a fish market in the capital and another from a garment factory on the outskirts of Colombo, leading to parts of the capital being placed under isolation.

Schools in the Western province have remained closed since October.

(IANS)