Covid-19 in local transmission, not community transmission, says govt

A health ministry document on Sunday had said the country was currently in “local transmission and limited community transmission phase.”

The Union health ministry on Monday clarified that the coronavirus pandemic is still in the local transmission stage and has not reached the community transmission stage.

“There is no community transmission. There is only local transmission. If the government feels that that the stage of community transmission has set in, it will acknowledge it but it is not there yet,” Lav Aggarwal, joint secretary in the Union health ministry said at the daily briefing on coronavirus.

“Kindly allow us to use the word community but not in the context you have interpreted. Our country is in the local transmission stage,” he said responding to questions about a health ministry document that said the country was currently in “local transmission and limited community transmission phase.” .

There had been apprehension about community transmission of coronavirus setting in after a health ministry document on Sunday said that “limited community transmission” has begun in India.

Community transmission is that phase of the outbreak when the source of a patient’s infection cannot be traced and isolated.

A document detailing the standard operating procedure (SOP), issued by the health ministry late Sunday night, said: “This SOP is applicable to current phase of Covid-19 pandemic in India (local transmission and limited community transmission), wherein as per plan of action, all suspect cases are admitted to isolation facilities.”

Aggarwal also said that 92 new cases and four deaths were reported in the last 24 hours taking the total number of people infected by coronavirus to 1071 and the number of casualties to 29.

Asked about a viral video of disinfectant being sprayed on migrant workers in Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, Aggarwal said action has been taken against those involved.

“Bareilly District Magistrate has clarified that some employees took an overzealous step due to ignorance. Required action has been taken against those employees,” he said.

The video showing migrant workers squatting on a road and being sprayed with chlorine-mixed water had sparked outrage on Monday, prompting the Bareilly administration to order a probe.