Australia’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, met with the war crimes accused head of the Sri Lankan army to discuss coronavirus prevention strategies this week, as a military enforced curfew is in place across much of the island.

Authorities in Jaffna have urged worshippers who attended a service at the Philadelphia Missionary Church to immediately self-quarantine, after it was reported that the senior pastor has tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus infection.

Governor of the Northern Province P S M Charles told EconomyNext that around 150 people are thought to have attended the service, at the church in Ariyali, Jaffna.

At least one person has been killed and several others injured after Sri Lankan guards opened fire at inmates during a protest at the Anuradhapura prison earlier today.

By calling on a military accused of egregious rights abuses to lead a public health operation, the Sri Lankan government risks “exacerbating existing ethnic divides, endangering human rights and civil liberties even further, and furthering the violent militarization of the island,” wrote Tamil Guardian's editor-in-chief Thusiyan Nandakumar in the Polis Project this week.

Troops from Sri Lanka’s Special Task Force (STF) launched “inspections” of homes of recent foreign arrivals in Sri Lanka this week, as the head to the army warned that some 800 people had avoided quarantine procedures.

The head of Sri Lanka’s army has called on all foreigners on the island to “curtail their movements” as he confirmed that over 2,000 people had been detained in quarantine centres across the island.

The Sri Lankan air force announced that it had set up more of the state’s controversial coronavirus “quarantine centres” in Jaffna, Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu this morning.

The Sri Lankan government confirmed that at least 70 patients have tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus, as it announced a curfew would be in place over the weekend.

British parliamentarians from both major parties raised concerns over the deterioration in the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, calling on the UK government to be “more robust with the Sri Lankan authorities”.

The Sri Lankan government announced it will be imposing an island-wide curfew from tonight, as it looks to tackle the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak

Former Media Spokesperson of the Sri Lanka Army, Brigadier Sumith Atapattu, is set to make his political debut by contesting in the Parliamentary Elections this year, according to Colombo Gazete.

Atapattu - who was part of the Mechanised Infantry during the civil war - said he made a decision to contest from the Kurunegala District under the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) party led by Sajith Premadasa to work for his people and ensure the issues they faced are addressed. 

Tamil students and volunteers from Toronto, Canada have set up a free transportation service to help the elderly and others in need during the COVID-19 crisis.

With the coronavirus prompting more nationwide restrictions and lockdowns across the world, it has made it particularly difficult for elderly and immunocompromised individuals to seek medical assistance and to purchase groceries, medications and other necessities. 

Sri Lanka’s defence secretary has called on the country to support the government’s strategy as it looks to tackle the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak on the island, stating it “is similar to how the entire country got together to defeat terrorism in 2009”.

China extended a further $500 million loan to Sri Lanka this week, as Colombo’s economy struggled in the wake of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak on the island.

An official Chinese press release said there were “big concessional terms on both interest and tenure” for the loan, which was signed on Wednesday at Temple Trees.