The US Embassy in Sri Lanka donated supplies to the Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of Sri Lanka at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo on Tuesday, as part of US global relief efforts to combat the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced that all inbound flights to the island will be shut down for two weeks and that the security forces were engaged in a “continuous search” for persons that arrived from high risk countries as part of efforts to contain the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

A patient at Batticaloa Teaching Hospital has tested positive for coronavirus, the first case in the NORth-East, as the island-wide total climbed to 43 earlier today.

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Health said that almost 200 other people are currently under observation at hospitals and treatment centres.

The Sri Lankan military admitted it was using intelligence officers to track down foreign arrivals who entered the island and may have evaded the government’s quarantine process, set up in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The head of the Sri Lankan army, who is currently subject to US travel sanctions due to his role in overseeing war crimes, is to lead Colombo’s response to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak on the island.

SriLankan Airlines have confirmed that one of their pilots has tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus, just days after he reportedly attended an annual cricket match between two of Colombo’s elite schools.

The Chairman of the National Election Commission, Mahinda Deshapriya, confirmed that a decision to postpone the general election was still not made despite the COVID-19 coronavirus threat in Sri Lanka.  

Mr. Deshapriya stated this yesterday (March 16), following a meeting between the health officials and officials of the Election Commission (EC).

US based advocacy group, People for Equality and Relief in Sri Lanka (PEARL), released its third instalment of its Sinhalisation of the North-East series, focusing on the impact of state-sponsored Sinhalisation and militarisation of Seruwila-Verugal.

Data gathered by PEARL researchers in the series examines how Sinhalisation and militarisation is used to deliberately shift the demographics of Tamil and Muslim areas.

The Sri Lankan government decision to set up a coronavirus quarantine centre in Batticaloa and Kandakadu, came after protests earlier this month form Sinhala locals in Hendala, admitted Sri Lanka’s health minister.

^{File photograph: Malcolm Ranjith and Mahinda Rajapaksa}

The head of Sri Lanka’s Roman Catholic Church called on the United Nations to immediately conduct a probe into the COVID-19 coronavirus, claiming that it is a man-made illness and those responsible should be prosecuted for “genocide”.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has called on the Sri Lankan government to postpone parliamentary elections that were scheduled for next month, due to the threat posed by the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus on the island.

“The safety of the public is our paramount concern,” said the TNA in a statement this morning. 

At least two Sri Lankan soldiers have been admitted to Jaffna Teaching Hospital after showing signs of a potential respiratory illness, amidst concerns over a potential coronavirus outbreak.

Though preliminary tests have not indicated any positive results for coronavirus, both soldiers are currently being treated in isolated rooms at the hospital.

One of the soldiers was stationed at Mannar, whilst the other was at an army camp in Vavuniya.

Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa told South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) leaders today that “the elections will be held as planned”.

The Parliamentary election scheduled for April will go ahead amid concerns of the increasing numbers of COVID-19 coronavirus cases on the island.

As coronavirus cases escalate across the island, hospitals and clinics across the North-East are bracing themselves for any potential outbreak, with many concerned at Colombo’s militarised and ‘politicised’ strategy.

Speaking on condition of anonymity to the Tamil Guardian, one local clinician warned that systemic racism within Sri Lankan state institutions is risking lives.