Is anything worse than usual in Colombo right now?

Yes. Dengue is well above usual: 4.0× its usual for these weeks.

Well above usual · 4.0×

938 dengue cases a week, against a usual 238.

01k2k2026JanAprJulOctWeek 14 of 2026: 9, as printedWeek 24 of 2026: 20, as printed

Usual range: the two years before

Week 14: the Ministry of Health's two reports disagree (9 here, from its Epidemiology Unit; 312 in its National Dengue Control Unit's weekly update). Shown as printed.

Week 24: the Ministry of Health's two reports disagree (20 here, from its Epidemiology Unit; 1,208 in its National Dengue Control Unit's weekly update). Shown as printed.

Read from these four weekly reports by Epidemiology Unit, Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka:

  • 20–26 Jul 2026 (Vol 53 No 31)
  • 26 Jul–2 Aug 2026 (Vol 53 No 32)
  • 3–9 Aug 2026 (Vol 53 No 33)
  • 10–16 Aug 2026 (Vol 53 No 34)
The 8 reports behind "usual"
  • 20–26 Jul 2024 (Vol 51 No 31)
  • 27 Jul–2 Aug 2024 (Vol 51 No 32)
  • 3–9 Aug 2024 (Vol 51 No 33)
  • 10–16 Aug 2024 (Vol 51 No 34)
  • 19–25 Jul 2025 (Vol 52 No 31)
  • 26 Jul–1 Aug 2025 (Vol 52 No 32)
  • 2–8 Aug 2025 (Vol 52 No 33)
  • 9–15 Aug 2025 (Vol 52 No 34)

The publisher's own list of its weekly reports

⅛×usual8×

How this is worked out. The last four weeks against the same four weeks of the two years before, for this district alone. Illnesses with fewer than 5 cases a week here are left out: too few to compare.

Where is dengue worst in Colombo right now?

207 cases in the week to 13 September, 1.4 times the same week last year.

These 9 local health areas were flagged as high-risk that week, most cases first.

  • Maharagama24up from 18 the week before
  • Piliyandala19down from 21 the week before
  • Kaduwela18down from 21 the week before
  • Battaramulla14down from 15 the week before
  • Hanwella14up from 13 the week before
  • Pitakotte13the same as the week before
  • Gothatuwa11down from 12 the week before
  • City council district 3 (CMC)10the same as the week before
  • Dehiwala10up from 4 the week before
222cases the week before
23,161so far this year, against 9,453 by now last year

Source: National Dengue Control Unit, Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka, Weekly Dengue Update, week 37 of 2026. It counts suspected cases and comes out weeks sooner than the weekly report used elsewhere on this page, so its figures are newer and usually a little higher.

What makes the most people ill here?

Dengue: 89 of every 100 reports here this year.

  • Dengue89 in 100
  • Tuberculosis6 in 100
  • Chickenpox2 in 100
  • Leptospirosis1 in 100
  • Leprosy1 in 100
  • 8 others1 in 100

19,405 reports from Colombo so far in 2026.

Which illnesses are coming into season here?

Leptospirosis usually peaks here in the next three months.

Usual peak, from 2007 to 2025Next ten weeks

How does Colombo compare with the rest of Sri Lanka?

Colombo is 13th of the 21 districts with enough dengue to compare, each against its own usual.

usual⅛×8×32×country 4.7×Anuradhapura: 6.0×Badulla: 7.6×Batticaloa: 3.0×Colombo: 4.0×Galle: 5.3×Gampaha: 6.3×Hambantota: 6.7×Jaffna: 2.5×Kalmunai: 6.5×Kalutara: 7.8×Kandy: 3.5×Kegalle: 5.3×Kurunegala: 3.8×Matale: 2.8×Matara: 7.2×Monaragala: 3.8×Nuwara Eliya: 6.3×Polonnaruwa: 5.0×Puttalam: 7.0×Ratnapura: 2.6×Trincomalee: 2.1×Colombo

Across Sri Lanka as a whole, dengue is at 4.7× its usual; here it is 4.0×.

Why each district against itself. A large district always has more cases than a small one. Each dot is a district against its own usual, so size drops out.

Where can people get care in Colombo?

52 government hospitals and clinics, from 28 primary care units to 6 national and teaching hospitals.

  • 28Primary care unitsthe first stop for most illnesses
  • 9Divisional hospitalssmall local hospitals
  • 3District and base hospitalslarger hospitals with specialists
  • 6National and teaching hospitalsthe largest, for serious and specialist care
  • 6Other specialised hospitalseye, mental health, infectious diseases and others

Where volunteers on OpenStreetMap have mapped hospitals and clinics. Their map shows where they have been, not everything that exists.

HospitalClinic or doctor

Hospitals named on the map include:

  • Dental Ward (Colombo National Hospital)
  • National Eye Hospital
  • National Hospital of Sri Lanka
  • National Institute of Infectious Diseases
  • Colombo South Teaching Hospital
  • Dr. Neville Fernando Sri Lanka - Russia Friendship Teaching Hospital

Source: Directorate of Planning, Ministry of Health and Mass Media, Sri Lanka, List of Hospitals and Hospital Bed Data, 2026; map: OpenStreetMap contributors, via the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, licence ODbL 1.0.

How far is care from here?

3% of people live more than an hour's walk from a hospital or clinic.

Walking time to the nearest hospital or clinic, for everyone living in Colombo. Half of people are within 11 minutes.

  • Within an hour's walk97%
  • One to two hours3%
  • More than two hoursless than 1%

And to a larger hospital?

4 kmhalf of people live closer than this to a base, general or teaching hospital
4%live more than 10 km away, in a straight line; roads are longer

Sources: walking times, Weiss and others, Nature Medicine 2020 (Malaria Atlas Project), a model at walking pace from facilities mapped in 2019; where people live, WorldPop 2020; larger hospitals, the Ministry of Health's list of its hospitals (2026), with locations from OpenStreetMap contributors.

Can we trust this week's numbers for Colombo?

Yes, for this week. Colombo sent figures in 52 of the last 52 weekly reports.

Weekly reports with figures from Colombo, most recent last

A reported case means someone reached a clinic and a form was filed, so these count reports, not everyone who was ill.

Sources. Epidemiology Unit, Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka, weekly report. District maps: Survey Department of Sri Lanka, published as a Common Operational Dataset by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.