The first COVID-19 case in Sri Lanka was a “primary imported” case, detected among a group of tourists on 27th January, 2020, who was a 43-year old female from Wuhan, China. Based on the travel itinerary and places visited by the travel group, 43 close contacts were identified by the public health care staff. They were quarantined for 14 days and followed up for development of signs and symptoms but no cases were reported among this group.
The second confirmed COVID-19 case was a Sri Lankan tourist guide, reported on 11th March 2020. He had developed signs and symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 while travelling with an Italian tourist group.
Henceforth, the country has experienced an outbreak situation, with 200 patients occurring within 76 days from the initial imported case. Occurrence of first 50 cases took 51 days while the second 50 cases were experienced within 6 days. The next 50 cases were reported within 9 days of reporting the 100th case while 200th case was reported on 12th April 2020, 10 days following reporting of the 150th case. All 200 cases were confirmed as COVID 19 by performing PCR testing. Approximately 1500 close contacts were identified for the initial 200 cases and close to 30,000 PCR tests had been performed.
The epidemiological curve of initial 200 COVID-19 cases shows several peaks (Figure). The initial peak coincides with reporting of patients among Sri Lankan overseas returnees from Italy (43 cases) and South Korea (2 cases). The second wave was caused by a group of pilgrims returning from Indonesia and their close contacts. This resulted in the highest peak among the initial 200 cases, with 21 patients being detected within one day. The last peak was due to a cluster observed from Suduwella area in the Gampaha district due to a transmission initiating through a probable import related case.
The age of the study group ranged from 4 months to 85 years, with the highest number of cases being reported among patients in the 40-49-year group (n = 46, 23%). The mean age was 39.5 (SD ± 17.7) years and the median age was 41 years. Majority of patients were males (63.5%) with a male to female ratio of 1.7:1. Highest sex difference was reported in the 60 to 69 age group, with a male: female ratio of 4.7:1, while this ratio was reversed in 70–79 age group (0.75:1) (Table 1).
Table 1
Age and sex distribution of diagnosed patients
Age category | Male | Female | Total No | Male: Female |
1_10 | 7(3.5%) | 4 (2%) | 11 | 1.75:1 |
10_19 | 7(3.5%) | 7 (3.5%) | 14 | 1:1 |
20_29 | 23(11.5) | 13(6.5) | 36 | 1.77:1 |
30_39 | 19(9.5) | 17(8.5%) | 36 | 1.12:1 |
40_49 | 33(16.5%) | 13(6.5%) | 46 | 2.54:1 |
50_59 | 19(9.5%) | 11(5.5%) | 30 | 1.73:1 |
60_69 | 14(7%) | 3(1.5%) | 17 | 4.67:1 |
70–79 | 3(1.5%) | 4(2%) | 7 | 0.75: 1 |
> 80 | 2(1%) | 1(.5%) | 3 | 2:1 |
Total | 127(63.5%) | 73(36.5) | 200 | 1.74:1 |
There were three foreign nationals among the first 200 patients, who were detected within 14 days of arrival in Sri Lanka for tourism purposes. Rest of the 197 patients (98.5%) were Sri Lankans. Among them, 81 (41.1%) had an overseas travel history, and had developed symptoms within one incubation period on returning to Sri Lanka, compatible with a risk exposure at countries travelled by them. Majority of these cases have returned from Italy (43, 51.1%), Indonesia (11, 13.6%, United Kingdom (8, 9.9%), and India (6, 7.4%) (Table 2). The foreign nationals and the Sri Lankan patients with an overseas travel history were categorized as “primary imported” cases.
Table 2
Characteristics of the first 200 COVID-19 patients diagnosed in Sri Lanka
Characteristic | Number | Percent |
Travel History (N = 200) | | |
Foreign Nationals (China, France, India) | 3 | 1.5 |
Sri Lankans with foreign travel in preceding 14 days | 81 | 40.5 |
Sri Lankans without recent foreign travel | 116 | 58.0 |
Countries of Sri Lankan returnees (N = 81) | | |
Italy | 43 | 53.1 |
Indonesia | 11 | 13.6 |
UK | 8 | 9.9 |
India | 6 | 7.4 |
Germany | 2 | 2.5 |
Qatar | 2 | 2.5 |
South Korea | 2 | 2.5 |
UAE | 2 | 2.5 |
Pakistan | 1 | 1.2 |
Saudi Arabia | 1 | 1.2 |
Singapore | 1 | 1.2 |
Thailand | 1 | 1.2 |
USA | 1 | 1.2 |
Type of exposure to disease (N = 200) | | |
Travel history/ foreigners Exposure to a tour group/tour guide | 93 | 46.5 |
Close contacts of a diagnosed/suspected case | 102 | 51 |
No definitive exposure | 5 | 2.5 |
Table 2
Out of the Sri Lankans with an overseas travel history, 43 cases (53%) were detected in the community, either through active community-based surveillance system (19 cases, 23%) or voluntary visits to COVID-19 isolation hospitals with signs and symptoms (24 cases, 30%). Remaining 38 cases (47%) with overseas travel history were diagnosed at designated cohort quarantining centres maintained by the government. Approximately 74% (27 cases) of these 38 cases have been detected from one quarantine centre (Kandakadu) in the Polonnaruwa district. This centre has received the majority of overseas returnees compared to other centres during this period, which was approximately 550 in number.
There were 103 (51.5%) primary cases, categorized as either “primary imported” (84, 81.6%) or “primary import related” (19, 18.4%), and 92 (46%) “secondary” cases, who had developed the disease following exposure to a primary case. The exact source of exposure could not be ascertained for five cases, which included three health care workers, one person with a possible exposure to a tourist, and one person without any identifiable exposure history. However, no disease transmission was observed from these five cases.
Among the “secondary” cases, 79 (86%) had contracted the infection in the first cycle of transmission, and have transmitted the infection to 13 others (15%), leading to the second cycle of transmission. No further transmission was detected beyond this level. The majority of secondary cases were family members of overseas returnees living in the same household with them (61, 66.3%), and the rest were close associates of the overseas returnees (31, 33.7%). The shortest observed duration of exposure between primary and secondary cases was approximately 30 minutes.
One exceptional situation was reported when an infected Sri Lankan priest residing in Switzerland, oblivious of his infected nature, visited Sri Lanka and conducted a service for a gathering. All close contacts were quarantined when his infectious status was revealed later, and six secondary cases resulted from this group.
Among the 200 patients, 137 (68.5%) were symptomatic at the time of diagnosis. The most common presenting complaint was fever (81.2%), followed by cough (64.5%), and sore throat (19.6%). Non-specific symptoms such as body aches (13.8%), headache (15.9%) and fatigability (11.6%) were also reported along with major symptoms. Altogether, 106 (77.4%) symptomatic cases reported more than one symptom, the commonest combination being fever and cough (22, 16.1%). Rest presented with only one symptom, the commonest being fever (13, 9.5%) or cough (10, 7.3%). Symptoms suggestive of more severe disease such as shortness of breath were found among 7.2% of patients (Table 3).
Table 3
Common symptoms presented by patients and outcomes of the disease for diagnosed patients
Major Symptom (N = 138) | No | Percent |
Fever | 112 | 81.2 |
Cough | 89 | 64.5 |
Sore Throat | 27 | 19.6 |
Runny Nose | 19 | 13.8 |
Shortness of breath | 10 | 7.2 |
Headache | 22 | 15.9 |
Diarrhoea | 6 | 4.3 |
Vomiting | 2 | 1.4 |
Fatigue | 16 | 11.6 |
Body Ache | 27 | 19.6 |
Chest Pain | 4 | 2.9 |
Outcomes of the disease (N = 200) | | |
Recovered | 193 | 65.5 |
Death | 7 | 3.5 |
With the revision of the initial case definition and testing strategies by the 3rd week of March 2020, all close contacts of COVID-19 cases were subjected to PCR testing, and 64 asymptomatic cases detected by this means.
Out of the 200 cases, seven patients developed severe disease and died, giving a case fatality rate of 3.5%. All deaths had occurred among males between the ages of 44 to 80 years, with a mean age of 60.86 years (SD ± 12.6). All seven were admitted to hospitals with fever and cough. Out of them, three cases had overseas travel histories (Germany, India and Italy) within 14 days prior to onset of symptoms. There was a delay on average of 5.14 days from the onset of symptoms to date of admission, and the hospital stay ranged from 1 to 25 days, with a mean duration of 11 days (SD ± 7.8).
Rest of the 193 patients, including the three foreign nationals, recovered completely without complications. The duration of hospital stay for these patients ranged from 5 to 66 days (mean 26.8 days, SD ± 13.9).