of the airport without being tested for covid-19 and violating quarantine procedures. brandix responded, saying that no parties from india accessed its minuwangoda facility, and no indian material was used there. the company also stated that they chartered three flights from visakhapatnam, india, for its sri lankan employees working in india and their families, and that they properly followed government-mandated protocol including pcr testing and 14-day quarantine at a government-regulated quarantine facility. university cases the bambalapitiya branch of icbt campus became a covid-19 hotspot, as one of the students of the college who visited the campus on 4 october 2020 tested positive for covid-19. a female student from the university of sri jayewardenepura's third-year management faculty tested positive covid-19 on 10 october. the university vice-chancellor, sudantha liyanage, said 50 students of the management faculty were placed under self-isolation. the student's mother was a nurse who worked in the icu of the panadura general hospital, which immediately closed the icu and tested 20 icu crew members. on 12 october 2020, another two students positive. on 11 october 2020, a reported new covid-19 case involved a female student of university of kelaniya's social science faculty. in the university of ruhuna, a student's father tested for covid-19 on 12 october. the student and her roommate were quarantined. colombo national hospital on 10 october 2020, colombo national hospital announced that three minor staff tested positive for covid-19. two wards were temporarily closed. katunayaka investment zone on 12 october 2020, seven people tested positive for covid-19 in the katunayaka investment zone. on 13 october, 42 more employees tested positive for covid-19. peliyagoda fish market cluster on 21 october, several new cases were reported at the peliyagoda fish market. the first recorded patient lived in dompe. after a few hours, the fish market closed and all the workers self-quarantined, with 105 individuals taking pcr tests. 496 new cases were reported on 23 october. 20 harbour workers at the beruwala fisheries tested positive for covid-19, due to close contact with the peliyagoda cluster. some time later, all major fisheries were closed. 535 patients were reported at the peliyagoda fish market with 217 close contacts. other mannar on 11 october 2020, the sri lankan army commander said that periakadei and pattithottam, two villages in the mannar district, would be isolated due to five people from the area testing positive for covid-19. lanka electricity company on 12 october 2020, the ja-ela public inspector said that 12 employees of the kandana lanka electricity company had tested positive for covid-19. katunayaka airport on 12 october 2020, sri lankan airlines confirmed media reports that a cargo operator employee who worked at the bandaranaike international airport tested positive for covid-19. bank of ceylon on 13 october 2020, the husband of an employee of the bank of ceylon's ratmalana branch tested positive for covid-19. sri lankan navy second wave two sri lankan navy officers tested positive for covid-19 on 17 october 2020, and were sent to the national operation center. response the sri lankan government has requested that the general public practice proper hygiene methods and self-quarantine methods to safeguard from the disease. on 14 march, the sri lankan government declared 16 march 2020 a national public holiday to contain the pandemic. on 15 march, sri lankan president gotabaya rajapaksa proposed plans to combat covid-19 to the south asian association for regional cooperation leaders during a video press conference arranged by the indian prime minister, narendra modi. rajapaksa directed the authorities to implement proper quarantine centres to examine foreigners and ordered relevant authorities to provide necessary essential services to the general public via the internet. on 16 march, the government medical officers association (gmoa) requested president gotabaya rajapaksa to extend the public holiday to one week, and close all ports of entry into the country. the government extended the public holiday to three days from 17 march to 19 march due to increase in new cases except for health, banking, food supply, and transportation. on 17 march 2020, rajapaksa stated that sri lanka had not reached a full-time quarantine level and criticised the comparisons regarding the country's situation with lockdown in italy, which was urged by the sri lankan general public on social media. he also ordered the banking sector to not overburden the coronavirus-hit business sector, which was unable to repay loans, and ordered the banking sector to further extend the payback period to another six months. the minister of health, pavithra wanniarachchi, revealed that around 24 hospitals were available to tackle the coronavirus emergency. on 19 march, the government extended the public holiday to eight days from 20 march to 27 march to both private and public sectors as a remedy to confront the coronavirus pandemic. the government urged the public to work at home and declared a "work from home period" for those eight days. the government also planned to convert the former voice of america relay station into a covid-19 treating hospital. on 21 march, the government strictly cautioned that younger children and older people should not be allowed to go to the supermarket and urged only one person per family to visit the supermarket to avoid unnecessary gatherings. the government also urged the public to not buy chloroquine, which is used to treat patients diagnosed with malaria. on 23 march, rajapaksa introduced a relief fund called "covid-19 healthcare and social security fund" to combat the pandemic. he contributed about rs. 100 million from the president's fund. president also revealed that general public can delay the monthly electricity, water bills until 30 april. the government has proposed plans to arrange home delivery of the essential goods to curb the coronavirus pandemic and also to control the crowd. the decision was reached by the government following the panic buying and overcrowding of public in shopping outlets and supermarkets on 23 march after the removal of curfew temporarily. the government urged the main supermarkets of the country such as cargills, arpico super centre, keells super, sathosa, and laugfs holdings to sell products to customers via home delivery methods. pickme offered services to deliver essential items such as gas and groceries. pickme partnered with lanka sathosa to provide essential products to customers via home delivery channels, and also partnered with litro gas to provide gas cylinders. sri lanka's main apparel manufacturer brandix offered one of its factories as a quarantine centre to assist government's fight against the coronavirus. on 24 march, the government issued a statement that a special task force was established to effectively and efficiently regulate and conduct the distribution of essential commodities. the government designated colombo, gampaha, and kalutara as high-risk zones. the police dig, ajith rohana, warned that there could be a possibility of more undisclosed unconfirmed hidden coronavirus cases due to the reluctance of carriers coming forward for testing and self-quarantine precautions. the government extended the work-from-home period until 3 april due to the extension of indefinite curfews in high-risk zones. rajapaksa ordered the central bank, commercial banks, insurance companies to continue services during the curfew. some reports revealed that rajapaksa could arrange an emergency meeting at the parliament as soon as possible, which was dissolved earlier in the month for the parliamentary elections. he initially hosted an all-party press conference to curb the pandemic. on 7 april army, 1 corps of engineer services (ces) turned the former voice of america building complex at iranawila, chilaw, into an isolation hospital. politics rajapaksa condemned former unp leader ranil wickremesinghe's remarks over the possibility of shortage of funds after 30 april, and criticized him for politicizing the current coronavirus pandemic. the ruling party also condemned the opposition's request to reconvene the dissolved parliament, and accused them of trying to seek political gains. on 11 may 2020, the sri lankan government lifted the curfew that had been in place since the start of the pandemic, which allowed the public to return to work under the condition that social distancing is maintained. however, public gatherings, festivals, and celebrations were still banned. the government also allowed salons, beauty parlours, and barber shops to reopen on 11 may but strictly banned shaving. the government urged barbers to maintain precautionary health measures while cutting hair. the 2020 sri lankan parliamentary election was held on 5 august 2020 during the pandemic. voter turnout was initially low, primarily fueled by fears of contracting or spreading the virus, but slowly increased into the morning, however. authorities required voters to wear face masks, along with the use of hand sanitizer when voters enter and leave polling stations. disposal of bodies according to the authority guidelines, the bodies of deceased covid-19 patients must be bagged and disinfected while the closest relatives are allowed to see the face of the deceased for a limited time within the hospital; touching the body is not allowed. embalming is banned and funeral homes are expected to immediately bag the body and place it in a sealed coffin for religious rituals. mass gatherings and funeral functions are banned and remains must be cremated within 24 hours of death. sri lanka muslim congress leader rauff hakeem criticized the decision to make cremation mandatory, and claimed that cremations were done unlawfully without following either international rules or religious principles, and further stated that the cremation of a person should not be done without proper religious methods. the muslim community gave mixed responses, with some criticising hakeem while others criticised the government decision. some human rights activists and groups accused the government of not following who rules and regulations for cremations related to covid-19 deaths. a letter from the ministry of health in sri lanka was leaked to social media on 25 april 2020, which requested 1,000 body bags from the international committee of the red cross to dispose of bodies during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. the ministry later announced that it would investigate who leaked the letter to the media. on 10 february 2021, following growing international criticism of the practice of forced cremations, sri lanka's prime minister mahinda rajapaksa indicated in parliament that burials for covid-19 victims would be allowed. on 2 march 2021, iranaitivu, 300 km (190 mi) from colombo, was designated as the burial site for covid-19 victims from muslim and christians who opposed cremations. philadelphia missionary church on 21 march 2020, the authorities urged all the people who attended the sunday service at philadelphia missionary church, jaffna, to self-quarantine for at least 14 days. on 15 march 2020, the main senior pastor of the church conducted special sunday service, and was later found to have tested positive for covid-19. he later went to switzerland that day with his wife for medical treatment. the northern province governor, p. s. m. charles, confirmed that the pastor hugged and blessed all worshippers during the service. around 240 people were reported to have attended the service according to economynext. three of them were treated at the jaffna teaching hospital. maligawatta stampede on 21 may 2020, a stampede occurred near a muslim jumma residence in maligawatta, colombo, resulting in the death of three women and injuring nine. although a businessman informed authorities about the charity event and received a police pass for it, the crowd gathered in huge unexpected numbers, which resulted in a stampede. six suspects who were involved in relief distribution have been arrested mainly for conducting such an event amid coronavirus and for not maintaining proper hygienic measures and ignoring the ban on public gatherings. travel restrictions the government banned the arrival of travellers from several european countries, including spain, norway, switzerland, belgium, sweden, germany, france, austria, and the netherlands, extending the ban to the united kingdom on 15 march. the travel ban was also imposed to foreign travellers from india, south korea, and iran. srilankan airlines cancelled several scheduled flights from several countries, including india amid coronavirus fears. as of 17 march 2020, sri lankan government ordered travel restrictions to canada, bahrain, and qatar. aircraft were prevented from landing from 19 march until 25 march at bia airport, except for cargo goods. the government also extended the validity of all foreigner visas until 12 april. on 22 march, the government banned the arrival of all passenger ships and planes. in december, sri lanka said travel restrictions would be relaxed from 26 march to allow expatriates and foreign passport holders to return without