Is anything worse than usual in Polonnaruwa right now?

Yes. Dengue is far above usual: 5.0× its usual for these weeks.

Far above usual · 5.0×

36 dengue cases a week, against a usual 7.1.

050100usual range2026JanAprJulOctWeek 3 of 2026: 19, as printedWeek 11 of 2026: 17, as printedWeek 12 of 2026: 2, as printedWeek 14 of 2026: 4, as printedWeek 16 of 2026: 3, as printedWeek 17 of 2026: 27, as printedWeek 32 of 2026: 47, as printedWeek 33 of 2026: 9, as printed

Weeks 3, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 32 and 33: the Ministry of Health's two reports disagree by more than half (its Epidemiology Unit's figures, drawn here, against 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.

Dengue in Polonnaruwa, newest week

12 cases in the week to 13 September, 12.0 times the same week last year.

8cases the week before
768so far this year, against 280 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 and leishmaniasis: 56 of every 100 reports here this year.

  • Dengue37 in 100
  • Leishmaniasis19 in 100
  • Chickenpox18 in 100
  • Leptospirosis11 in 100
  • Leprosy3 in 100
  • 9 others12 in 100

2,044 reports from Polonnaruwa so far in 2026.

Which illnesses are coming into season here?

Nothing is due to peak here in the next three months. November is the next busy season, for leishmaniasis.

Usual peak, from 2014 to 2025Next ten weeks

How does Polonnaruwa compare with the rest of Sri Lanka?

Polonnaruwa is 12th 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×Polonnaruwa

Across Sri Lanka as a whole, dengue is at 4.7× its usual; here it is 5.0×.

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 Polonnaruwa?

31 government hospitals and clinics, from 18 primary care units.

  • 18Primary care unitsthe first stop for most illnesses
  • 8Divisional hospitalssmall local hospitals
  • 4District and base hospitalslarger hospitals with specialists
  • 1Other 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:

  • Medirigiriya Base Hospital
  • Aralaganwila Hospital
  • Bakamoona Hospital
  • Galamuna Hospital
  • Hingurakgoda Hospital
  • Manampitiya 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?

Most people (63%) live more than an hour's walk from a hospital or clinic.

Walking time to the nearest hospital or clinic, for everyone living in Polonnaruwa. Half of people are within 84 minutes.

  • Within an hour's walk37%
  • One to two hours32%
  • More than two hours31%

And to a larger hospital?

8 kmhalf of people live closer than this to a base, general or teaching hospital
41%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 Polonnaruwa?

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

Weekly reports with figures from Polonnaruwa, 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.