# If you'd like to omit non-matching lines from the result; add ';d' to the end of the expression.
sed -E 's/(?<=notes:.*?)\b\d{1,2}([-\\/])\d{1,2}\1\d{4}\b/<br> $&/gm;t' <<< "wed and thurs and notes: are just so interesting 02-03-2019 on a new line please 04-05-2020 on another line please wed and thurs and notes: are just so interesting 02/03/2019 on a new line please 04/05/2020 on another line please"
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for SED, please visit: https://www.gnu.org/software/sed/manual/html_node/The-_0022s_0022-Command.html