| Time Period | Incident/s |
|---|---|
| 7 January – 9 March 2020 | Prior to 27 January, the Ministry of Health in Sri Lanka had instructed the Quarantine Unit at Bandaranaike International Airport to screen passengers for symptoms. Additionally, the ministry warned that infants, children, pregnant women, the elderly and people who suffer from chronic diseases among other issues should avoid visiting crowded places when possible A 22-member National Action Committee has been set up by the ministry to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Sri Lanka. The Department of Immigration and Emigration also informed all construction sites with Chinese resident visa holders to restrict their Chinese employees to their respective workplaces and lodgings. On 27 January, the first confirmed case of the virus was reported in Sri Lanka, a 44-year-old Chinese woman from Hubei Province in China; she was admitted to the National Institute of Infection Diseases She had arrived as a tourist with another group of travellers and had been screened at the Bandaranaike International Airport after having a high fever. She had fully recovered and was released from the hospital on 19 February. Following the first reported case of coronavirus in Sri Lanka on 27 January, demand for face masks in the country soared and the country began to face a mask shortage. Some pharmacies in the country had sold all face masks and there were reports from customers that face masks were being sold at over ten to twenty times the original price. As a result, the country's drug regulatory agency placed price controls on face masks. 33 Sri Lankan students and families were evacuated from Wuhan on 1 February and kept under Quarantine at a Military facility at Diyatalawa. They were released after two weeks quarantine period on 14 February. Since the first week of March, passengers coming from Italy, Iran, or South Korea have been required to be quarantined for two weeks at one of two facilities. On 10 March, 186 people (164 Sri Lankan nationals, 20 Italian nationals, and 2 South Korean nationals) were placed under quarantine in Batticaloa. On 10 March 2020, 2 Sri Lankan origins living in the United Arab Emirates reported with coronavirus cases were identified. |
| 10–23 March 2020 | |
| 10 March | On 10 March, the first Sri Lankan local national tested positive for COVID-19. A 52-year-old tour guide working with a group of Italians had tested positive. He is under treatment in Infectious Disease Hospital, Angoda. Twenty-nine patients were under observation in government hospitals, including eight foreigners. Following the new developments, the country suspended on arrival visa for tourists on 11 March |
| On 12 March | another Sri Lankan person confirmed positive for COVID-19. A 44 years old person, who had reportedly stayed with the first Sri Lankan patient diagnosed with the virus who is currently admitted at Infectious Disease Hospital, Angoda, has also now tested positive for coronavirus. |
| On 13 March, | three more confirmed Coronavirus patients identified in Sri Lanka. One of these patients is a 41-year-old Sri Lankan male who had arrived from Germany. He has been admitted to the Infectious Disease Hospital, Angoda. The other two patients are from the group of people who had been quarantined at the facility in Kandakadu. One of them is a 37-year-old who had arrived from Italy and was placed under quarantine at Kandakadu upon arriving in the country. He is currently being treated at the Polonnaruwa Hospital, Polonnaruwa. The other is a 43-year-old male who had also arrived from Italy. He is being treated at Infectious Disease Hospital, Angoda. |
| On 14 March | five more confirmed coronavirus patients were identified in Sri Lanka. One of the patients is a 44-year-old who was quarantined in the Kandakadu quarantine camp and is now being treated at the Polonnaruwa General Hospital. Another patient is 43-year-old from the Nattandiya area and is being treated at the Kurunegala General Hospital. The other patient is a 42-year-old male who was also quarantined in the Kandakadu quarantine camp and is now being treated at the Polonnaruwa General Hospital. All three of these patients have returned to Sri Lanka from Italy recently. Another two more confirmed coronavirus patients were identified in Sri Lanka. While one of them is a 56-year-old female who returned from Italy, the other patient is a 17-year-old girl who is a relative of an already confirmed COVID-19 case. It was also reported that one of the co-pilots of the Sri Lankan Airlines who was infected with the coronavirus attended the annual Royal–Thomian Big Match between S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia and the Royal College, Colombo which held from 12 March to 14 March. |
| On 15 March | 7 more new confirmed cases were reported taking the overall tally to 18 and the surge of new cases cautioned government to declare 16 March a public holiday but later it extended the holiday until Thursday, 19 March. On 16 March, 10 more cases were reported, taking the tally to 28. On 17 March, another 15 more cases were reported taking the tally to 43. On 17 March, the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Kamal Gunaratne revealed that around 170 passengers who returned from Italy and South Korea had neglected the quarantine procedure. |
| On 18 March | second patient was identified to be fully recovered from the infection and on the same day another seven cases were reported taking the tally to 50. On 19 March, nine more cases were identified taking the tally to 59. One of the patients a man from Ja-Ela admitted himself to the Ragama Hospital for chest pains and continuously lied about his travel history. After the tests were done the patient came positive for COVID-19. The patient was removed to the isolated ward but not before exposing staff, patients and others to the virus. As a result, the entire hospital ward had to be closed down and the staff were quarantined. On 20 March, eleven more cases were reported taking the tally to 70. Most of the confirmed cases are reported from Gampaha district with 18, 17 from Colombo and 12 from Puttalam. On 21 March, six more cases were confirmed taking the tally to 77. An Army officer who was engaged in escorting Sri Lankans to quarantine centers also contracted with Coronavirus. |
| On 22 March | the first confirmed coronavirus case was reported in Jaffna and the patient is believed to have maintained close relationships with the senior pastor who was tested positive for COVID-19. Five more cases were reported on 22 March taking the tally to 82. On 23 March, five more cases were reported taking the tally to 87. On 23 March, country's first locally identified person infected with the coronavirus has been discharged from the hospital after showing improvement during recovery. |
| 24 March 2020 – 3 April 2020 | |
| On 24 March | Assistant of the church pastor was reported to have been tested positive for COVID-19. A father-son duo who attended the Friday Jummah prayers on 20 March at the Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque which is also known as the Red Mosque has also been tested positive for COVID-19. Six more cases were reported on 25 March taking the tally to 106. However, no new confirmed cases were reported in the country on 26 March and 27 March according to the Army General Shavendra Silva. |
| On 26 March | a recent returnee from abroad who is a resident of Atalugama in Bandaragama contracted COVID-19. He has associated with 26 persons of the village. Therefore, the village declared lockdown and 20 persons will be quarantined for 14 days. On the next day, father and sister of the Atalugama corona patient also hospitalised after displayed COVID-19 symptoms. They were admitted to the Kalutara Nagoda Hospital. On 28 March, first corona patient was identified from Akurana, Kandy district. A person recently had come from Chennai, India diagnosed with COVID-19. With the diagnosis, Akurana was immediately declared lockdown by the government. Currently, three villages have been sealed off; Bandaragama-Atalugama, Kandy-Akurana and Puttalam-Kadayamkulam. |
| On 27 March | the first Sri Lankan national died from COVID-19, who lived in Switzerland. Sathasivam Loganathan, a 59-year-old Tamil from Punkuduthivu, Jaffna lived with his family in Switzerland. On 29 March, two more Sri Lankan nationals died from COVID-19 resided in England. Henry Jayawardena (aged 70), a retired doctor, and Lakshan Wijeratne (aged 55), both were treated in ICU, UK. |
| On 28 March | first Coronavirus patient had died in Sri Lanka. A 60-year-old patient, from Marawila, who also had a kidney transplant and had a history of diabetes and high blood pressure. The body was cremated within 15 hours. On 30 March, second death from COVID-19, a 60-year-old man from Negambo was recorded. Five more cases were reported including a four-month-old baby on 30 March increasing the total up to 122. |
| On 30 March | On 30 March five villages in Beruwala with a total population over 100 were quarantined after an airport driver who was infected by the virus intentionally hid his status and went into hiding till neighbors complained to the police. |
| On 31 March | 21 more patients confirmed COVID-19, which is currently the highest single-day increase. Most of them were relatives of previously confirmed Corona patients. The total patients rise to 142. On 1 April, five patients from Kurunegala, Jaffna and Maradana confirmed COVID-19 increasing total up to 147. On the same day, four patients recovered from the disease by increasing recovered total into 21. Further 173 more people are under observation at National Institute of Infectious Diseases (IDH). Later in the night, a 72-year-old COVID-19 infected patient died at the IDH, Angoda increasing death toll into 3. He was a resident of the Maradana. |
| On 2 April | three more COVID-19 cases reported positive increasing total into 151. Later in the night, 58-year-old patient at IDH died from COVID-19 complications by increasing death toll to 4. On 3 April, 8 more COVID-19 patients identified and total increased up to 159. |
| 4 April 2020 – 15 April 2020 | |
| On 4 April, | Director General of Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe confirmed the death of a fifth patient with the COVID-19. A 44 years old male arrived from Italy who was treated at the Welikanda Hospital in Polonnaruwa died from the complications of COVID-19, even though he had no other ailments. The body was cremated in the afternoon. On the same day, seven more patients confirmed COVID-19 and tally rises to 162 with 25 discharged persons. One of the infected woman from Beruwala was pregnant and she gave birth without complications. However, she entered the maternity clinic of the hospital with no symptoms and false address. |
| On 4 April | Anton Sebastianpillai, a renowned Sri Lankan born British geriatrician and author lived in England died after testing positive for COVID-19. |
| On 5 April | 10 COVID-19 cases reported and on next day, 2 more cases were reported by increasing patients up to 178. On 7 April, an 80-year-old male from Dehiwala died as the sixth person from COVID-19. On the same day, 7 more patients confirmed the disease and total increased up to 185. On 8 April, four patients confirmed COVID-19 by increasing total up to 189. On the same day, seventh death was recorded, a 48-year-old male from Ratnapura, who was a gem businessman returned after a tour to Germany. On 9 April, one COVID-19 patient and on 10 April, seven patients identified by increasing total to 197. |
| On 11 April | 2 patients recorded where total number passed 201. Then it increased further with 11 more cases on 12 April. On 13 April, eight COVID-19 cases were reported and total increased up to 218 with 147 active cases. On 14 April coinciding with Sinhala and Tamil new year, 15 cases of COVID-19 positive patients reported to increase the total to 233. On 15 April, 5 cases were reported and total rise up to 238. |
| 17 April 2020 – 30 April 2020 | |
| On 17 April | 7 cases were reported |
| On 18 April | 10 cases were reported |
| On 19 April | 17 cases were reported from Keselwatte, Colombo. The total increased up to 271 with 91 recovered cases |
| On 20 April | 33 persons from Colombo confirmed COVID-19 by increasing total up to 303. This was the highest number of new COVID-19 cases in a single day recorded from Sri Lanka until 26 April |
| On 21 April | 6 persons confirmed COVID-19 |
| On 22 April | a new case from Polonnaruwa district, a Navy sailor attached to the Welisara Navy Camp tested positive for COVID-19 as well as 19 more cases on the same day. |
| On 23 April | 38 persons confirmed COVID-19 by increasing total to 368. Out of 38 positive cases, 30 were from sailors from Welisara Navy camp involved in moving into quarantine the group of people who tested positive for the coronavirus from the Suduwella area in Ja-Ela. |
| On 24 April | 52 persons confirmed COVID-19 by increasing total up to 420. This is the highest number of new COVID-19 cases in a single day. The 415th positive patient was a pregnant lady at the De Soysa Hospital, Colombo 8. However, she suffered a miscarriage during parturition. Over 60 navy personals were tested positive in 2 days. These officers have been in duty on Ja-Ela when they were exposed. |
| On 25 April | 40 persons tested positive for COVID-19. On 26 April, 62 confirmed cases were reported, including most cases from Navy Base |
| On 27 April | 65 positive cases were identified where the total increases up to 588. It took only 2 days to record COVID-19 patients from 400 to 500. |
| On 28 April | 31 more patients identified as COVID-19 cases. The total rises up to 619. On 29 April, 30 cases were reported and total increases to 649. On 30 April, 16 cases identified |
| On 30 April | The British government announced that brother of popular veteran actress Malini Fonseka has died from COVID-19 complication. Upali Fonseka, brother of Malini and father of popular actress Senali Fonseka died at the age of 68 who worked in England. |
| 1 May 2020 – 21 May 2020 | |
| On 1 May | 25 cases were identified. |
| On 2 May | 700th COVID-19 patient was identified with 14 more patients. The total increases up to 705 with 182 recovered cases. |
| On 3 May | 13 COVID-19 cases were reported. |
| On 4 May | Sri Lanka reported 8th COVID-19 death and first female death while receiving treatment at the Homagama Hospital, a 72 old woman from Polpithigama in Kurunegala who suffered from kidney ailments for a long time. Meanwhile, 37 persons tested positive on the day. |
| On 5 May | another woman died from COVID-19 complications, becoming the 9th death victim. She was 52-year-old from Modara, Colombo. She was admitted to the Colombo National Hospital on 4th due to an illness. On 5 May, 16 patients confirmed the virus and total rises to 771. |
| On 6 May | 29 COVID-19 cases were identified, mostly from Sri Lanka Navy personnel and the total reached to 797. |
| On Vesak Poya day on 7 May | 800th COVID-19 patient was recorded including 27 patients. |
| On 8 May | 11 patients were identified and then 12 patients on 9 May increases total up to 847. One of the passengers aboard the aircraft that returned, from Dubai on Thursday morning tested positive and was thereafter admitted to the Negombo General Hospital. |
| On 10 May | 16 COVID-19 patients were identified, in which 13 are from Sri Lanka Navy, one from navy relative and two from passengers returned from Dubai. |
| On 11 May | only 6 people tested positive. |
| on 12 May | 20 people were identified with the disease where total increases up to 889 |
| On 13 May | the total exceeded 900 with 26 new COVID-19 cases. On 14 May, 10 persons tested positive and total rises to 925. |
| On 15 May | 10 more cases were reported. |
| on 16 May | The total reaches 960 with new cases from Navy camp and Quarantine centres. |
| On 17 May | the total rises to 981 with 21 confirmed cases. On next day, it increases to 992 with 11 cases. |
| On 19 May | 35 people tested positive and total exceeded up to 1027 |
| On 20 May | only one COVID-19 patient was identified. |
| On 21 May | further 27 were tested positive and total increases to 1055. |
| 22 May 2020 – 4 June 2020 | |
| On 22 May, | On 22 May, 13 cases tested positive and total becomes 1068. The total increases to 1089 with 21 new patients identified where 19 of them were Sri Lanka Navy sailors, while the remainder were two Sri Lankans who returned from Dubai. Until 24 May, Sri Lanka Army maintains 26 quarantine facilities, whereas, Sri Lanka Navy maintains 04 and Sri Lanka Air Force 03 quarantine centres island wide. |
| On 24 May | 52 patients identified as positive cases and total increases to 1140. |
| On 25 May | further 41 COVID-19 cases were reported, all people returned from Kuwait. On the same day, Dr. Anil Jasinghe confirmed Sri Lanka's 10th death due to COVID1-9, a 51-year-old woman, who returned from Kuwait and was undergoing quarantine in Trincomalee. |
| On 26 May, | a record number of 137 people confirmed positive and total reached 1318. The total rises to 1469 on next day, when 150 patients identified as COVID-19 positive. |
| On 28 May | 61 were tested positive and total is 1530. On 29 May, 28 patients were identified to surpass the total to 1558. |
| On 30 May | On 30 May |
| On 31 May | 16 patients were identified, |
| on 1 June | 10 patients were identified with 11th COVID-19 death, who was a 45-year-old returnee from Kuwait. |
| on 2 June | Forty patients were identified on 2 June |
| On 3 June | 66 were identified |
| On 4 June | 48 were tested positive and total rises to 1797 |
