No evidence of community transmission yet, says govt

Sushmi.Dey@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:11.04.2020

The government on Friday again reiterated that it has found no evidence yet of any community transmission in India and that the rate of infection remains low with only 2% of 16,002 samples tested on Thursday testing positive. It also, once again, gave an assurance that the public would be informed if the coronavirus outbreak reaches Stage 3 spread.

Responding to media reports that a study by the government-controlled ICMR based on random sampling tests conducted on patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Illnesses (SARI) indicated community transmission, Lav Agarwal, joint secretary in the health ministry, said the report dealt with studies conducted in areas where prevalence of the disease was detected and not in new areas and that the positive rate revealed by the report was 1.8%. 

No unusual rise in cases that might set off alarms: Centre

New Delhi: “At least 16,002 samples were tested on Thursday, of which only 320, or 2%, tested positivefor Covid-19.Basedon thesamples collected, we can say that the infection rateis nothigh, although it is dynamic,” Agarwal said even as he emphasised the need for socialdistancing.

Referring to the ICMR study that shows 40% of SARI cases had not reported travel or contact history, Agrawal said the conclusions cannot be inferred as community transmission because the tests were conducted in areas where there were Covid-19 cases and people areoften not ableto recallexact events. “This needs further investigation,” he said indicating a possibility thatthe SARIcases needed closer examination for travel and contacthistory.

Government experts said even a higher incidence of the diseasein an area or clustersdoes not necessarily add up to community transmission. Several clusters in an area or a city with rapidly multiplying cases and transmission between them amount to community transmission at stage 3. Officials said the government is closely monitoring trends of serious casesof flu and respiratory diseases, sale of drugs relating to these conditions, and admissions in ICUs. So far there has been no unusual risein suchcasesthat might set off alarms. They said a rising incidence of the disease cannot be hidden as patients with tell-tale symptoms will begin crowding clinics andhospitals.

The government argued the low rate of infection is also indicative that the spread is limited. “Today, the challenge is not local or community transmission, but whether we are following all the precautionary and containment measures.Thereis nocommunity transmission in the country yet, but we need to remain aware and alert,” Agarwalsaidurging people to not panic but follow social distancing measures.