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.

According to AP, schools had been scheduled to reopen Nov 9, but the government announced 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 centred on a garment factory erupted in the densely populated Western province, where the capital is. Another cluster centred 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.