Coronavirus | Sri Lanka reports first death, terms Chennai COVID-19 ‘high-risk zone’

Alert as 4 test positive after city visit.

Wearing a coronavirus-themed helmet, Police Inspector Rajesh Babu speaks to a family at a checkpoint in Chennai on March 28, 2020.

Sri Lanka on Saturday reported its first COVID-19 death, of a 65-year-old patient, who had diabetes and renal health complications, Health Ministry officials said. The island nation has 113 confirmed coronavirus patients so far.

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Sri Lanka’s health officials have also detected four COVID-19 positive cases in people who recently returned from Chennai, prompting authorities to term Chennai a “high-risk” zone.

“Two cases detected today and two more cases from earlier this week were all Chennai returnees, Chennai is definitely a high-risk zone” Director-General of Health Services told

The Hindu on Saturday. The government has asked all those returned from Chennai in the last 14 days to report to health authorities for quarantine.

Mid-March, Sri Lanka reported four persons — an Indian tourist and three Sri Lankans — who tested positive on arrival from India. With the latest detections, a total of eight cases have originated from India, according to authorities. Nine patients have recovered and been discharged from hospital, according to an official bulletin.

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Sri Lanka stopped flight arrivals in all its airports on March 17. For a week now, the island has been on a near-total shutdown and travel between districts has also been banned.