in matugama, kalutara district, tested positive for covid-19, according to matugama medical officer p. d. lionel. a nurse, who worked at the hirdaramani apparel factory in kahathuduwa, tested positive for the disease; she had been in contact with a covid-19 patient. all passengers departing sri lanka were asked to take pcr tests for the virus within 72 hours of their departure. minister of finance mahinda rajapaksa said that a payment of rs 5,000 would be made to any affected family in the gampaha district curfew areas. on 19 october 2020, the negombo shopping complex closed after a clothing store owner and his wife tested positive for covid-19; they had attended a wedding ceremony in divulapitiya. 50 dockyard employees were quarantined after five staff members tested positive. sri lanka public health inspectors' union said that 212 katunayake investment zone employees tested positive for the virus, as well as two families of a police sergeant assigned to a police station on armor street, colombo, which was temporarily suspended for several hours. a close contact of a covid-19 patient from the minuwangoda was instructed to self-quarantine. a bus conductor operating from the point pedro depot tested positive for covid-19. 20 october 2020 – 31 october 2020 on 20 october 2020, a special investigation unit police inspector tested positive for covid-19. the government placed a curfew in the kuliyapitiya area. police spokesman dig ajith rohana stated that vehicles travelling from colombo to kandy were not allowed to stop in curfew areas. the pannala public health inspector said that a woman from pannala who attended a wedding in divulapitiya tested positive several days later. the total number of people who recovered from covid-19 increased to 3,644. on 21 october 2020, the fort police station re-opened. the sri lankan army built the kandakadu special hospital. the peliyagoda fish market immediately closed after several covid-19 cases were reported there. on 22 october 2020, four police officers, who tested positive covid-19 at the bambalapitiya police station, were instructed to self-quarantine; they were also posted at the peliyagoda fish market. the government imposed a curfew for kotahena, mattakuliya, modara, wellampitiya, bloemendhal and grandpass. five areas in the kalutara district were labeled as isolated areas, including agalawatta, gorakgoda, beragoda, dapiligoda, and kekulandara north. later, chief epidemiologist samaraweera announced that 13 districts were affected by the second wave of the virus, and that there was a high possibility of it spreading into 12 other districts. 50 new cases were reported from the minuwangoda cluster, and 22 cases in the katunayaka trade zone. six cases were reported in the peliyagoada fish market and 22 cases were in direct contact with people in the minuwangoda cluster. on 23 october 2020, 609 new covid-19 cases were reported, and included cases from 48 quarantine centres. the total case count rose up to 6,896. minister of health pavithra wanniarachchi said that 30 hospitals and 3,500 beds had been allocated for covid-19 patients. the government medical officers' association said that people should go for immediate zonal lockdown after identifying the spread of covid-19. 45 colombo port customs officers were sent to self-quarantine. 200 workers took pcr tests, and 45 of them tested positive for covid-19. on the same day, more than 400,000 pcr tests were performed. beruwala harbour closed after it reported 10 out of 16 positive pcr tests. fish markets and fisheries harbours closed islandwide due to the peliyagoda cluster. at the end of the day, covid-19 cases rose up to 850. on 24 october, the government implemented a quarantine curfew in maradana and dematagoda, effective until 26 october. on the same day, 71 people were arrested for violating lockdown, and a man from kandakkuliya, kalpitiya, died at the kalpitiya hospital while waiting for a pcr test. around 40,000 people were under quarantine restrictions. the nugegoda weekly fair was temporarily closed, as one person tested positive for covid-19. during this period, the who informed the health ministry that they had approved various vaccines for covid-19 and that sri lanka was to expect a shipment of them. the temple of the sacred tooth relic in kandy implemented safety restrictions its services for residents of areas under curfew: visitors had to carry their valid national identity card or vehicle license card, wear a face mask, and stay at least 1 m away from other people. the government imposed a quarantine on gothatuwa and mulleriyawa. a staff member at the shangri-la hotel in colombo tested positive for covid-19. a staff member who worked at the hilton colombo also tested positive. the colombo manning market announced that it would close its doors until november. the hilton hotel and galle face hotel temporarily closed due to employees testing positive for covid-19. on 25 october 2020, the government imposed a curfew on fort, pettah, borella and welikada effective from 6:00 p.m. special police teams were deployed to arrest curfew violators. a 70-year-old man died from covid-19, marking the country's 16th covid-19-related death. on 26 october 2020, the total number of covid-19 cases increased to 7,521. ten more police special task force officers tested positive for the virus. the closure of fishing harbours was detrimental to the country's vast fishing sector, with supplies of fish that could not be picked up. on 27 october 2020, three more covid-19-related deaths were recorded. the government imposed a curfew on several areas, including homagama, moratuwa, and panadura. on 28 october 2020, the western province was placed under quarantine and a curfew was imposed. 15 police officers tested positive for covid-19 in the western province, 96 police officers were sent to quarantine centres, and 708 officers self-quarantined. on 29 october 2020, two employees from the elephant house head office tested positive for the virus. the nuwara eliya district was placed under quarantine after 30 people tested positive for the virus. the sri lankan parliament announced it would not meet until 3 november. on the same day, dr. hemantha herath advised people in the colombo area to stay in the area. government offices in the western province switched to a work-at-home system. the wilgoda police area in the kurunegala district was placed under quarantine due to a surge in covid-19 cases. the total number of covid-19 cases in sri lanka surpassed 10,000. on 31 october, about 12,000 pcr tests were conducted, and seven borella police officers tested positive for covid-19. 1 november 2020 – 8 november 2020 on 1 november 2020, a quarantine curfew was re-imposed in the western province, kurunegala, ratapura, and kuliyapitiya. on 2 november 2020, a covid-19-positive man committed suicide. eight borella police officers tested positive for covid-19 on 10 november. on 3 november 2020, sri lanka reported its 22nd covid-19 death. on the same day, the isurupaya education head office closed after employees tested positive for covid-19. on 4 november, the sri lankan government reported that it spent rs. 7.3 billion on covid-19 relief in october. on 5 november 2020, six inmates and one police officer tested positive for covid-19. five more deaths were reported, bringing the total death toll to 29. on 6 november 2020, 75 customs officers were placed under quarantine after 8 tested positive. the total number of active covid-19 infections rose to 12,570. on 7 november 2020, seven prisoners from bogambara prison tested positive for covid-19. the health ministry issued new covid-19 health guidelines in response to the rapid spread of the second wave. on 8 november 2020, 235 police officers in the western province tested positive for covid-19. 1 january 2021 – present on 22 january 2021, sri lanka's national medical regulatory authority announced that it approved the oxford–astra-zeneca vaccine. in june 2021, it was reported that a lion named thor that lived in the dehiwala zoo since 2012 tested positive for covid-19. as of 8 july 2021, the total number of reported covid-19 cases had surpassed 268,000, and the death toll had risen to over 3,300. on 17 may 2022, sri lanka is down to its last day of petrol as it currently faces a budget deficit of $6.8 billion (2.4 trillion sri lankan rupees), or 13% of their gdp. ranil wickremesinghe, the appointed prime minister said that the country urgently needed $75 million in foreign exchange to pay for essential imports. clusters welisara navy camp cluster after identifying a covid-19 positive patient from polonnaruwa, a sailor from welisara navy camp, the camp was immediately quarantined: around 4000 people at the navy camp, including sailors and their families, were held within the camp. on 23 april, 30 sailors tested positive for the virus, with the count rising to 58 the next day. due to the spread, all sailors were recalled to the camp and transferred to colombo for further testing. those that associated with sailors in the camp were instructed to self-quarantine. on 24 april, the camp was declared an isolated area. as of 28 april 148 sailors from the welisara naval complex, 45 sailors on leave, and 13 others were traced to have been in contact with the infected sailors. according to jasinghe on 28 april, the welisara cluster included 209 people, with 148 inside the camp and 45 outside the camp on leave. kandakadu cluster on 7 july, an inmate in the welikada prison tested positive for covid-19. on the same day, another covid-19 cluster was declared in the kandakadu rehabilitation centre. two people from welikanda, five from rajanganaya, and one each from habaraduwa and lankapura tested positive for covid-19. they were confirmed to be close associates of inmates in the kandakadu rehabilitation centre. the kandakadu cluster's number of covid-19 positive patients rose to 560 on 20 june. 451 detainees, 63 staff members, and 5 invited staff at the kandakadu drug treatment and rehabilitation centre tested positive for covid-19 on 20 july, while 41 close contacts were also infected with the virus. minuwangoda and divulapitiya cluster on 4 october 2020, a 39-year-old woman employed in an apparel manufacturing facility in gampaha tested positive for covid-19. it was revealed that she was working in the brandix garment factory in minuwangoda. 45 of her close contacts were quarantined. subsequently, a police curfew assisted by the army was imposed on minuwangoda and divulapitya. on 4 october, the total number of new infections rose to 101 due to the number of infections reported from the minuwangoda apparel factory. on the same day, the ministry of education announced that it was considering to hold or postpone the scholarship examination and the gce. advanced level examinations scheduled to start on 11 and 12 october, respectively. pcr tests were conducted on over 2,000 employees of the garment factory. on 5 october over 1,300 students and teachers of the sri guanawasa maha vidyalaya in divulapiya were quarantined. on 6 october, sri lankan army commander lt. general shavendra silva stated at a press conference that the total number of cases from the brandix cluster reached 706. in the gampaha district, 11 police areas were put under curfew after 100 cases were reported. on 7 october, new reports stated that 1026 garment factory workers tested positive for the virus. one covid-19 patient was found in another brandix garment factory in welisara. on the same day, the ministry of education announced that the scholarship and advanced level would not be postponed. on 8 october the government said that the total number of confirmed cases rose to 4,469 (minuwangoda garment factory cluster number of cases up to 1,044). new covid-19 cases were reported in 16 districts on 8 october. on 9 october, the government information department said that the minuwangoda cluster increased to 1,053 cases. on 10 october, the number of total cases on the island reached 4,626. on 11 october 2020, 1,307 total covid-19 cases were reported from the minuwangoda and divulapitya cluster. 49 garment employees tested positive for covid-19 on 13 october. silva said 85% of the families of brandix garment factory employees tested positive for the virus. they moved to 96 quarantine facilities with more than 10,000 people undergoing the quarantine process. on 17 october, gampha district allowed the purchase of groceries and medicine for a few hours. alleged violation of quarantine protocol on 7 october, opposition mps harsha de silva and manusha nanayakkara inquired whether the new cluster emerged from the transmission of the virus from indian nationals invited by brandix. they also claimed that brandix's chief of security escorted them out