Colombo, July 24 : Sri Lankan authorities on Friday launched a massive search operation to locate a coronavirus-infected patient who escaped from a hospital on the outskirts of Colombo, police said. The 41-year-old patient was transferred from the Kandakadu Drug Rehabilitation Center to the National Infectious Disease Hospital as he tested positive for the virus and needed urgent treatment, reports Xinhua news agency. The Kandakadu Drug Rehabilitation Center has become a COVID-19 infection cluster as several inmates and staff have tested positive in recent days. Police said the patient had escaped early Friday morning and several police and army teams were deployed to track him down. Police released details of the patient along with his picture and sought public assistance to nab him. Sri Lanka has so far reported 2,753 COVID-19 patients since the pandemic hit the island nation in March, the Health Ministry said. The death toll stood at 11. /IANS