When Simon Lewis and his family — wife Irene, daughter Melissa and son-in-law Stephen Alexander — got ready for a five-day holiday to Sri Lanka, it was to be a short break from work routine.

Simon, a Dahisar native, said, "On March 11, we called the Sri Lankan Embassy in Colombo, because we did have some qualms about the Coronavirus, but the official reassured us that all was well in Sri Lanka, flights were operational, and we could certainly fly."