IMPORTANT: ICMR confirms 'no community transmission' of Coronavirus in India thus far

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in its latest update has found that that there is no community transmission of the Coronavirus in India so far. However, ICMR scientist R Gangakhedkar has advised to continue practising social distancing at all costs to prevent the escalation of the Coronavirus to stage three. 

The ICMR has found at least 10 per cent people have tested positive for Covid-19 due to severe acute respiratory illness (SARI). Gangakhedkar claimed that 11 out of 110 people who were tested due to SARI hospitalisation have tested positive for novel coronavirus.

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"Also, three of these patients, who belong from Chennai, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra do not have any travel history nor any contact with an infected patient. These few cropped up cases are not the base of solid evidence for community transmission. So, it has not started in India and there is nothing to panic. People should maintain social distancing to avoid any crisis," Gangakhedkar told ANI.

"We have strengthened our capacity of testing and tracing of cases across India. So far more than 150 (government and private laboratories) are doing diagnostic tests for covid19," he said.

Having apprehension on self-testing kits, Gangakhedkar opined that absence of proper guidelines on self-testing kits might cause panic and chaos among people and they may avoid contacting authorities even if found positive of Covid-19.

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Coronavirus in India

India has witnessed a swell in Coronavirus cases as the number of infected individuals surged to 909 with 19 deaths as on Saturday, March 28, while 79 cases have recovered and discharged according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.  Globally, there are over 6.6 lakh Coronavirus cases, with over 30,000 people succumbing. The United States has surged ahead to become the epicenter of the outbreak, surpassing virus source China and Italy.