Community spread on in Punjab, claims CM; Union ministry differs

Punjab, which was one of the first states to impose a statewide lockdown and stop public transport, has reported 132 Covid-19 patients till Friday

Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday said community transmission has started in the state with 27 positive cases coming from secondary sources, the claim that has been contested by the Union health ministry.

Addressing a news conference through video-conferencing, Amarinder said: “The number of positive Covid-19 cases will increase as is happening across the world and even in India. How can Punjab be isolated from it? We have contained the pandemic to some level as compared to other states. But this will spread. We have kept our contingency plan ready and lockdown is one of the methods to cut social contacts,” he said.

Punjab, which was one of the first states to impose a statewide lockdown and stop public transport, has reported 132 Covid-19 patients till Friday.

The chief minister admitted that the community transmission has started in Punjab following 27 fresh positive cases with no travel history and most of them are due to secondary infection.

“Today, the challenge is not local or community transmission. Whenever the community transmission stage comes, we will inform you. There is no community transmission in the country yet. There is no need to panic,” Aggarwal said.

According to the World Health Organisation, community transmission is “evidenced by the inability to relate confirmed cases through chains of transmission for a large number of cases”

The WHO in the latest Covid-19 situation report number 80 has termed India’s virus transmission classification as “cluster of cases” and not “community transmission” as of now.

Expressing concern over the prevailing situation, Amarinder said: “We had around 1,40,000 NRIs and foreign returnees, including from those countries where the virus had spread. They were the primary ones. Now, with 27 positive cases of secondary transmission we have entered the stage of community transmission. That is a serious cause of worry,” added Amarinder.

The CM said 651 people have come to the state from the Tablighi Jamaat’s congregations in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area, which emerged as the biggest Covid-19 hotspots in the country. Of them, 636 have been traced and 15 remain untraced.

Community transmission is the third of the four stages of the spread of an infectious disease. The first is travel history, the second is local transmission, the third is community transmission, and the fourth is epidemic.

He admitted that there has been slow testing in Punjab due to lack of such facilities. “Out of the 28 million-population in Punjab, only 2,877 have been tested. It is nothing. That is because the Centre had initially approved only three centres and later added one more. Now, we have sought permission for more such facilities.”

Quoting experts and reports by some national and international institutions, including Chandigarh-based PGIMER and John Hopkins University, the chief minister said the Covid-19 situation will peak in India in mid-September at a point when 58% of its population will be infected, with 87% of people likely to get affected in Punjab.

“These figures are frightening. Predictions by health experts about the spread of the pandemic are horrendous. So, we have to do what we can and lockdown is one of such measures,” he added.

The chief minister also rejected as “absolutely insufficient” the ₹15,000 crore announced by the Centre on Thursday for the health infrastructure in the country.

“How can this be enough for the nearly 1.4 billion people of India? No state has the resources needed to fight the battle without the help of the central government and they have to come forward to help the states,” Singh said.

PGIMER REFUTES CAPT’S CLAIM

CHANDIGARH: Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, has clarified that the institute has not undertaken any study which predicts that number of Covid-19 cases may peak by mid-September.

“Assistance provided at the personal level by some faculty member should not be projected as the viewpoint of the institute. Head, department of community medicine and School of Public Health of the Institute has confirmed that the no such study was conducted and thus there is no proof regarding the numbers being projected,” PGIMER spokesperson, Dr Ashok Kumar said.

PGIMER in a statement said that institute is not aware that any expert or faculty member from the department of community medicine and School of Public Health of the Institute has carried out any study or estimate that the Covid-19 may peak by mid-September and can infect 58% of country’s population.

Amarinder’s media adviser Raveen Thukral, however, said the report cited by the CM is assessment of Dr Shankar Prinja, additional professor of health economics, department of community medicine and School of Public Health, PGIMER, and his team, using mathematical models on the basis of Punjab data provided to him. “State Committee on Health Sector Response and Procurement headed by Vini Mahajan (a senior IAS officer) with ex-PGI director Dr KK Talwar as professional advisor had sought an urgent assessment of Punjab’s Covid-19 scenario from Dr Prinja to plan its preparedness,” he tweeted. Dr Prinja did not respond to calls.