The following lists notable events that took place during the year 2021 in Sri Lanka.
Incumbents National Gotabaya Rajapaksa(Age ) Mahinda Rajapaksa(Age ) Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena(Age ) Jayantha Jayasuriya Sajith Premadasa(Age ) Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Independent Samagi Jana Balawegaya
Provincial
Governors Central Province – Lalith U Gamage Eastern Province – Anuradha Yahampath North Central Province – Tissa Vitharana Northern Province – P. S. M. Charles North Western Province – A. J. M. Muzammil Sabaragamuwa Province – Tikiri Kobbekaduwa Southern Province – Willy Gamage Uva Province – Raja Collure Western Province – Roshan Goonatilake
Chief Ministers Central Province – Sarath Ekanayake Eastern Province – Ahamed Nazeer Zainulabdeen North Central Province – Peshala Jayarathne Northern Province – C. V. Vigneswaran North Western Province – Dharmasiri Dassanayake Sabaragamuwa Province – Maheepala Herath Southern Province – Shan Wijayalal De Silva Uva Province – Chamara Sampath Dassanayake Western Province – Isura Devapriya
Events COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka 2019–present Sri Lankan economic crisis
Events by month January 1 January Cinema halls all across the island are reopened under strict health guidelines. Suranga Udari becomes the first deaf female news reporter as well as the first sign language journalist in Sri Lanka. 8 January State Minister of Batik, Handloom and Local Apparel Products Dayasiri Jayasekara tests positive for COVID-19. The fall armyworm, a pest locally dubbed the Sena caterpillar which has threatened numerous cultivations across the country, is reported to have spread across eight provinces and destroyed several cultivations of corn, pumpkin, beans and radish. 10 January Cabinet Minister Rauff Hakeem tests positive for COVID-19. A disease begins spreading among cattle across several villages in the Rambawa Divisional Secretariat. 11 January Schools in all areas except in the Western Province and other isolated areas are reopened with strict health guidelines. Cabinet Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara tests positive for COVID-19. 12 January – MP Ranjan Ramanayake is sentenced to 4 years of rigorous imprisonment by the Supreme Court for attempted contempt of court. 14 January – South Asia's largest tire factory, the Ferentino Tyre company, is declared open in Horana by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. 18 January – State Minister of Primary Education and Education Services Piyal Nishantha tests positive for COVID-19. 21 January – Sri Lankan cricketers Binura Fernando and Chamika Karunaratne test positive for COVID-19. 23 January – Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi tests positive for COVID-19. 25 January Parliamentarian Attorney-at-Law Wasantha Yapa Bandara tests positive for COVID-19. Sri Lankan badminton player Niluka Karunaratne tests positive for COVID-19. 27 January – State Minister of Coconut, Kithul and Palmyrah Cultivation Promotion and Related Industrial Product Manufacturing & Export Diversification Arundika Fernando tests positive for COVID-19. 28 January The first consignment of the Indian government-gifted Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is officially handed over to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa by High Commissioner of India Dr. Gopal Baglay at the Colombo airport. Sri Lanka is ranked 10th in the list of countries that have handled the coronavirus pandemic the best by the Australian Lowy Institute. 29 January Island-wide vaccination of the Indian government-gifted 'AstraZeneca Covishield' vaccine begins. Popular actor Bimal Jayakody tests positive for COVID-19. 30 January – The total number of COVID-19 deaths in Sri Lanka exceeds 300.
February 2 February Dr. Gayan Danthanarayana, who was associated with the Ragama Teaching Hospital, dies from complications due to COVID-19. He is the first Sri Lankan doctor actively engaged in COVID-19 treatments to fall victim to the virus. Tamil Nadu Q-branch sleuths arrest notorious Sri Lankan drug lord Sinnaiya Gunasekaram, also known as Kimbula Ela Guna, who had links with the LTTE, at Chennai International Airport. Former Speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara tests positive for COVID-19. Governor of the Southern Province Dr. Willy Gamage tests positive for COVID-19. 3 February – Sri Lanka cricket head coach Mickey Arthur and international cricketer Lahiru Thirimanne test positive for COVID-19. 12 February – The COVID-19 variant spreading in the UK: B.1.1.7 UK lineage is detected from samples obtained in Colombo, Awissawella, Vavuniya and Biyagama. 14 February – Former Speaker of the Parliament W. J. M. Lokubandara dies at the age of 79, due to complications from COVID-19. 15 February – Total number of COVID-19 deaths in Sri Lanka exceeds 400. 16 February – Members of Parliament are inoculated with the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. 18 February – Sri Lanka international cricketer Dhammika Prasad announces his retirement from international cricket after an 8-year career. 21 February – Popular actors Sajitha Anthony, Sangeeth Prabhu and Kokila Jayasuriya all test positive for COVID-19. 22 February – International cricketer Lahiru Kumara tests positive for COVID-19. 23 February – Sri Lanka international cricketer and captain Upul Tharanga announces his retirement from international cricket after a 15-year career.
March 1 March The G. C. E. Ordinary Level examinations are held in 4513 examination centers across the island, with 622,351 private candidates and school students sitting for the exams under strict health measures. The decapitated body of a woman was discovered inside a large traveling bag left unattended at Gas Works Junction in Dam Street, Colombo. The victim was identified as a 30-year-old resident of Theppanwa in the Kuruvita Police area. After police investigations, the culprit was identified as a Sub-Inspector who was attached to the Buttala Police; said culprit later committed suicide. 2 March – Iranaitivu is selected as a burial site for COVID-19 deaths. 3 March – International cricketer Akila Dananjaya becomes the first bowler to take hat-trick and be hit for the maximum of six sixes in an over in the same match, during a match against the West Indies. 4 March – Gampaha Wickramarachchi University of Indigenous Medicine becomes the 16th National University of Sri Lanka, with the official launch being hosted by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. 5 March – Sudupaththinachenai is identified as another burial site for COVID-19 deaths. 7 March – Total number of COVID-19 deaths in Sri Lanka exceeds 500. 12 March The South African variant (B.1.351) of COVID-19 is discovered for the first time in Sri Lanka in a returnee from Tanzania. The Department of National Botanic Gardens adds three new plant species at risk of extinction in Sri Lanka to the National Red List of 2020. The three plants are rinorea bengalensis, rinorea decora and crudia zeylanica. 15 March – Minister of Public Security Sarath Weerasekara announces plans to impose a ban on the burqa in Sri Lanka and the closure of more than 1,000 Islamic schools over "national security fears". 26 March – The Consumer Affairs Authority tests the quality of coconut oil available in the local market due to check for potential aflatoxin composition. 31 March – A new television channel Haritha TV is launched by the Sri Jinarathana Educational Institute of the Hunupitiya Gangaramaya Temple.
April 4 April – The Mrs. Sri Lanka 2021 pageant held at the Nelum Pokuna Theatre concluded in a melee after the reigning Mrs. World Caroline Jurie stripped the winner Pushpika De Silva of her crown. 5 April – President Gotabaya Rajapaksa orders the immediately suspension palm oil imports to Sri Lanka. 6 April – Naufer Maulavi is identified as the mastermind behind the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings. 8 April – Mrs. World Caroline Jurie and Model Chula Padmendra are arrested by the Cinnamon Garden Police on three separate counts for the Mrs. Sri Lanka 2021 controversy. 9 April Ajith Mannapperuma is sworn in as a Member of Parliament in the presence of the speaker, replacing Ranjan Ramanayake, who had been controversially arrested a few months earlier. The Police Special Task Force arrests 44-year-old wanted drug peddler Sarath Kumara, alias "Cheaty", where he was in hiding inside a bunker in a house in Mulleriyawa. 10 April – The Blue Beach Island Underwater Gallery in Nilwella beach is declared open. 11 April – Sri Lankan Airforce Swimmer Leading Aircraftman Roshan Abeysundara sets a new Asian record by swimming 59 kilometers and 300 meters across the Palk Strait in 28 hours, 19 minutes and 43 seconds. Later, Abeysundara is promoted from Leading Aircraftman to Corporal of the Sri Lanka Air Force, in effect from 15 April 2021. 13 April – Total number of COVID-19 deaths in Sri Lanka exceeds 600. 23 April – Zaharan's father-in-law is arrested on charges of promoting extremism in Kekunugolla, Kuliyapitiya by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID). 24 April – Former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen and his brother Riyadh Bathiudeen are arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department on the charges of aiding and abetting the suicide bombers responsible for the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings. 25 April – Sri Lanka surpasses 100,000 COVID-19 patients, with 895 new positive cases.
May 1 May – Singapore stops entry or transit for any visitors with recent travel history to Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan or Sri Lanka. 2 May – Former international cricketer Upul Tharanga tests positive for COVID-19. As a result, the fund raiser T20 match between Sri Lanka Greats XI and Sri Lankan XI is postponed. 3 May Total number of COVID-19 deaths in Sri Lanka exceeds 700. Sri Lanka international cricketer and captain Thisara Perera announces his retirement from international cricket after a 12-year career. 5 May Wanted murder suspect 'Aliwatte Asitha' is arrested by the Mattakkuliya Police. Sri Lanka reports the first death of a pregnant woman due to COVID-19. 6 May – Vaccination of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine manufactured in Russia commences in Sri Lanka. 7 May – Construction work for Sri Lanka's Expressway, the Ruwanpura Expressway, is remotely launched by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. 8 May The COVID-19 death toll in Sri Lanka increases to 786 with 22 new fatalities, the first time the death toll has increased by more than 20 in a single day in the country. The Sinopharm BIBP vaccine manufactured in China started to vaccinate to the residents of the Western Province. 9 May Sri Lanka reports a record 2,672 new cases of COVID-19, the most cases ever recorded in a single day in a country. Sri Lankan first-class cricketers Dhananjaya Lakshan and Ishan Jayaratne test positive for COVID-19. 10 May – Total number of COVID-19 deaths in Sri Lanka exceeds 800. 11 May – Sri Lanka's notorious underworld leader Mabulage Dineth Melan Mabula, alias "Urujuwa" is killed by police fire. 13 May – Notorious underworld leader Tharaka Perera Wijesekara, alias "Kosgoda Tharaka", who was in police custody under detention orders, is shot dead by police at Meerigama. 16 May – Total number of COVID-19 deaths in Sri Lanka exceeds 900. 17 May – Popular singer Bathiya Jayakody tests positive for COVID-19. 18 May – Total number of COVID-19 deaths in Sri Lanka exceeds 1000. 19 May Sri Lanka surpasses 150,000 COVID-19 patients with 3,623 new positive cases. Member of Parliament Marudapandy Rameshwaran tests positive for COVID-19. 20 May Parliamentary Minister Mujibur Rahman has tests positive for COVID-19. X-Press Pearl, a Singaporean container ship, catches fire off the coast of Colombo in Sri Lanka, which engulfed in flames on 27 May and caused severe huge environmental damages to the west coast of Sri Lanka. 22 May – Total number of COVID-19 deaths in Sri Lanka exceeds 1100.