24 May - Sri Lanka recorded 1100 COVID-19 patients.[29]
26 May - Sri Lanka recorded 1300 COVID-19 patients with record 137 positive cases.[30]
27 May - Sri Lanka recorded 1500+ COVID-19 patients with record 150 positive cases.[31]
30 May - Sri Lanka recorded 1600 COVID-19 patients.[32]
31 May - Yellow-spotted locust infestation recorded from multiple farmlands in Mawathagama, Kurunegala.[33]
June
3 June - Sri Lanka recorded 1700+ COVID-19 patients with 66 positive cases.[34]
5 June - Sri Lanka reached 1800 COVID-19 patients.[35]
9 June - Former cabinet minister Mangala Samaraweera resigned from active politics as well as for contesting the forthcoming General Election.[36]
13 June - Archaeologists discovered that early humans living in Sri Lanka some 48,000 years ago crafted tools from animal bones and used them to hunt animals, especially monkeys and squirrels. It represents the earliest evidence of the use of bow and arrow technology outside of Africa to date.[37]
15 June
National parks and Zoological gardens throughout the country were reopened with a visitor limit in line with government health regulations.[38][39]
An accident took place at Thummulla Junction on 11 June, killing an officer attached to the State Intelligence Services by Tharinda Ratwatte, the driver of the Defender SUV.[40]
19 June - Sri Lanka's first ever underwater museum was declared open in Galle.[43]
24 June - Sri Lanka reached 2000 COVID-19 patients.[44]
25 June
Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson was appointed as the Group CEO of Hemas Holdings and became the first ever Sri Lankan woman to become the CEO of a public conglomerate in Sri Lanka.[45]
27 June - All cinema halls in Sri Lanka reopened.[47]
28 June - Former Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan named as the Most Valuable Test Player of the 21st Century by the Wisden Cricket Monthly magazine.[48]
29 June - All the government schools reopened for principals, teachers and other staff in Sri Lanka after 105 days.[49]
30 June - Former national selection committee chairman and cricketer Aravinda de Silva was questioned by the Sri Lankan police due to Mahindananda Aluthgamage’s match fixing allegation news.[50]
July
1 July
Four personnel of Police Narcotic Bureau were arrested on the charges of having links with drug traffickers.[51]
Cricketer Upul Tharanga questioned for two hours by the Special Investigation Unit about the match fixing allegations regarding 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup final.[52]
2 July - Former cricketer Kumar Sangakkara questioned for eight hours by the Special Investigation Unit about the match fixing allegations regarding 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup final.[53]
3 July - Former cricketer Mahela Jayawardene questioned by the Special Investigation Unit about the match fixing allegations regarding 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup final, even though police informed the case is over.[54]
5 July - International cricketer Kusal Mendis was arrested after being involved in a fatal road accident in Panadura, an elderly cyclist, who later died in hospital.[55]
6 July - Academic activities of Grades 5, 11 and 13 at all government schools started.[56]
8 July - Former cabinet minister Rohitha Bogollagama resigned from the United National Party and its national list for the upcoming parliamentary election.[57]
12 July - Government decided to close all the schools again for one week from 13 to 17 July due to Kandakadu corona outbreak.[59]
27 July - Academic activities of Grades 11, 12 and 13 at all government schools started.[60]
31 July - Former CID director Shani Abeysekara was arrested for fabricating false evidence with regard to a court case against former police officer Vass Gunawardane.[61]
Sri Lanka emerged as first runners-up in the 2020 Online School Debate Championship to Canada 8–1 in the finals.[63] It was also the first time that Sri Lanka reached the final in the history of World Schools Debating Championships. Sri Lanka was also awarded the top-performing ESL team for secondary English speaking countries.[64]
Negombo Prison superintendent Anuruddha Sampayo has been arrested.[65]
1 September - The 51-year-old underworld gangster Mohamed Thajudeen Mohamed Shaul Hameed alias ‘Sawanna’ arrested for heroin possession.[83]
2 September
Schools re-opened and resumed academic activities, as usual, for all students from grade 6 to 13.[84]
A Sri Lankan, Samith Rangana from Matara who worked at the KFC restaurant had died by a restaurant blast that took place in the United Arab Emirates.[85]
3 September - The ‘MT New Diamond’ crude oil tanker caught fire in the Eastern sea off Sangaman Kanda in Ampara.[86]
4 September - One person who worked in the boiler room of the MT New Diamond Crude Oil Tanker died.[87]
8 September
Premalal Jayasekara who was sentenced to death for murder and held in prison took oaths as a Member of Parliament.[88]
14 September - The 13th COVID-19 death reported in Sri Lanka, a 60-year-old man, who returned from Bahrain.[93]
20 September – A five-storied building in Buwelikada, Kandy collapsed by killing a month and a half old infant and parents.[94]
28 September – Former parliamentarian Sujeewa Senasinghe decided to step down from politics.[95]
October
4 October
A 39-year-old woman from Divulapitiya has tested positive for COVID-19.[96]
All schools were closed,[97] whereas Police curfew imposed in the Minuwangoda and Divulapitiya police jurisdictions, with immediate effect.[98]
Tuition classes in Colombo & Gampaha suspended until further notice.[99]
9 October
A high-powered Chinese delegation led by former Chinese Foreign Minister and the current Communist Party Political Bureau Member Yang Jiechi, arrived in Colombo.[100]
A student at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Kelaniya has tested positive for COVID-19.[104]
The Pattithottam & Periyakadei areas in the Mannar District were declared as isolated villages due to spread of COVID-19.[105]
An employee of Hela Clothing, attached to the Thihariya Plant tested positive for COVID-19.[106]
The Grade 5 scholarship examination held under strict health guidelines at 2,936 examination centres across the island and 331,694 candidates.[107]
12 October
The G. C. E. Advanced Level Examination commenced under strict health guidelines at 2,648 examination centres across the island and 362,824 candidates.[108]
The National Development Bank from Minuwangoda, working at the Marine Drive Building of the bank had tested positive for COVID-19.[109]
14 October – A G.C.E. Advanced Level student from Kuda-Gammana in Divulapitiya tested positive for COVID-19.[110]
15 October – The number of COVID-19 patients in the Minuwangoda cluster increased to 1,838.[111]
19 October – Former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department during a raid in Dehiwela, where he is charged with Criminal Misappropriation of Public Funds and Violation of Election Laws with regard to the Transportation of IDPs in CTB buses to vote at the 2019 Presidential Election.[113]
20 October – Underworld gang leader Samarasinghe Arachchige Madush Lakshitha alias ‘Makandure Madush’ was killed in a police shootout during a raid at the Apple Watte Housing Scheme, in Maligawatte.[114]
November
13 November – The number of COVID-19 deaths in Sri Lanka exceeded 50 along with five new COVID-19 deaths.[115]
16 November – Two Female Officers: Pilot Officer ADPL Gunarathe and Pilot Officer RT Weerawardana, commissioned as Flying Brevet Pilots and female military aviators for the first time in Sri Lanka Air Force history.[116]
18 November – Sri Lanka's former State Minister of Fisheries, Dilip Wedaarachchi ate a bite of "raw fish" during a live press conference.[117]
22 November – Most Ven. Makulewe Vimalabhidana Thero appointed as Mahanayake of Sri Lanka Ramanna Sect.[118]
23 November – Schools with grades 6 to 13 across the island excluding those in the Western province and the isolated areas re-opened to begin the third term.[119]
25 November – Four golden caskets were discovered during an excavation at the Southern Vestibule of the Deegavapi Stupa in Ampara. This is the single largest discovery of golden caskets discovered during an excavation in Sri Lanka.[120]
26 November – 2020 Lanka Premier League commenced with a virtual opening ceremony for the first time in franchise cricket using a combination of augmented and virtual reality technologies.[121]
27 November
The number of COVID-19 deaths in Sri Lanka exceeded 100 along with eight new COVID-19 deaths.[122]
30 November – The Cabinet meeting was held through video technology for the first time in the history of Sri Lanka.[131]
December
3 December – Attorney-at-Law Kushani Rohanadheera was appointed as the Deputy Secretary-General and Chief of Staff of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.[132]
4 December – Two residents of Chankanai and Chavakachcheri died due to Cyclone Burevi injuring at least six.[133]
5 December – Total number of recoveries from COVID-19 in Sri Lanka has exceeded the 20,000 marks.[134]
8 December
Sri Lanka's largest Wind Power Farm ‘Thambapavani’ in Mannar was added to the National Grid.[135]
Youngest COVID-19 death in Sri Lanka reported from the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children (LRH), a 20-day-old male infant.[136]
9 December – The dead body of a Dutch monk Netherlanthaye Jinarathana Thero was found at Polgasduwa Aranya Senasanaya in Rathgama on a meditation retreat.[137]
10 December – International award-winning Sri Lankan short film Vikaari was released by the Dust Sci-fi channel, the first Sri Lankan film to be released by the Dust Sci-fi channel. The short was directed by Sri Lankan filmmaker Sandun Seneviratne and British filmmaker Charlie Bray.[138]
13 December – Total number of COVID-19 death toll in Sri Lanka surpassed 150 with three more deaths.[139]
17 December – A 29-year-old COVID-19 positive pregnant mother of Kuppiyawatta area has given birth to quadruplets at the De Soysa Hospital for Women.[142]
21 December – Governor of the Eastern Province, Anuradha Yahampath decided to close all schools in the Trincomalee Education Zone until further notice, after 15 COVID-19 patients were reported in the Trincomalee city limits.[143]
28 December
Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, Chief of Defense Staff, and head of the National Operations Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) was promoted to the rank of four-star general by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.[144]
Defense Secretary Major General (Retired) Kamal Gunaratne was promoted to the rank of four star General by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.[145]
30 December – A member of a crime syndicate Saravana Gedara Kelum Udaya Kumara alias ‘Thalwatte Kelum’ was arrested by the Police Special Task Force in Batuwatte, Ragama.[146]
31 December – Total number of COVID-19 death toll in Sri Lanka reached 200 with five more deaths.[147]
Deaths
January
1 January - Dr. Roland Silva, 86 (archeologist) [148]
8 January - Gunathunga K. Liyanage, 86 (broadcaster) [149]