The Jaffna National College of Education in Kopay is being turned into a quarantine centre to allow three army soldiers to isolate themselves today.

The military had requested access to the students' hostels for use as quarantine centres, which they have been granted access to. 

A Sri Lankan navy officer from Vavuniya serving in the Welisara Navy Camp was confirmed positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) yesterday. After being tested for COVID-19 on Saturday at the Vavuniya Regional Health Service, the results given yesterday by Anuradhapura hospital confirmed that the officer has COVID-19.

The navy officer recently visited his house located in Mahakachakodi, Vavuniya when returning from the naval base. Following this, the officer and his family have been subject to strict self-isolation measures.

A one-year-old child and her three-year-old brother were stabbed to death in east London on Sunday evening.

The children, who the local community have identified as being from a Tamil family that fled Sri Lanka, died within hours of each other.

A 40-year-old man was taken to hospital in a critical condition, where he remains, with reports identifying him as the father of the children. He is thought to have stabbed the children and then attempted to take his own life.

A group of opposition parties have called on the Sri Lankan government to reconvene parliament, pledging they will not “attempt to defeat the government nor thwart any of the legitimate actions of the government during this period,” in joint letter sent this morning.

Sri Lankan authorities reportedly confirmed that at least 180 navy sailors have tested positive for the coronavirus, including at least 68 sailors who were on leave and in the community, as cases on the island continued to rise this week.

The father of a Tamil man who has been in an Indian prison for more than 28 years over his alleged association in the killing of the Indian premier Rajiv Gandhi, passed away in Jaffna.

The Tamil Refugee Council has called on the Australian government to release the Tamil asylum- seeking family and allow them to return to Biloela, Australia.

Wang Yi, China’s Foreign Minister and State Councillor, discussed the response to the coronavirus pandemic with Dinesh Gunawardena, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister.

Malayalam actor Dulquer Salmaan sent out a public apology earlier today after a scene in his recent Malayalam-language movie ‘Varane Avashyamund’, which involved naming a pet dog “Prabhakara”, caused outrage online.

The use of the LTTE leader’s name in such a manner provoked outrage online, with the hashtags #PrabhakaranIsTamilsIdentity and #PrabhakaranIsOurLeader soon trending in southern India.

The Canadian government announced it would be granting over CAD $56,000 (approximately 7.5 million LKR) “to support Sri Lanka’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic” through a body affiliated to Sri Lanka’s Presidential Covid-19 Task Force, headed by Shavendra Silva.

Sri Lanka’s central bank will borrow the money from the Reserve Bank of India to boost its gross reserves as part of a US $ 400 million currency swap, as Colombo’s economic crisis continues to grow in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The body of a Tamil man was recovered from a ditch in Vavuniya this weekend.

The man was found in a ditch along the Vavuniya-Mannar road to Sivapuram.

Sinhala Buddhist monks from leading chapters met with Sri Lanka’s president this week to signal their approval of his governance so far and blamed the previous regime for the economic crisis the island faces.

The Sri Lankan government launched a scathing attack at Fitch Ratings, after the agency downgraded the country's Long-Term Foreign- and Local-Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR), calling it “illogical and ill-timed”.

Sri Lanka said it “wishes to categorically disagree with the assessment of risks” and slammed Fitch, claiming “their assessment shows rush to judgment and exposes prejudicial nature”.