ICMR Study Points To Community Transmission In India And It's Not Good News

As World Health Organisation (WHO) continues to deny that India has entered the stage of community transmission, a recent study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) seems to suggest otherwise.

Reuters

For weeks now, ICMR has been doing random sampling tests conducted on patients from various states with Severe Acute Respiratory Illnesses (SARI). The testing has asserted a spike in the number of coronavirus positive cases among such patients with no travel history.

As many as 39.2 per cent of SARI patients, who later tested positive for the coronavirus, neither had a history of travel nor had contact with a positive patient, the data compiled by ICMR has revealed.

Reuters

These patients were reported from 36 districts of 15 states. "These districts need to be prioritised to target COVID-19 containment activities," ICMR says in the report.

¡°When the COVID testing strategy was expanded to include all SARI patients (from March 21), a total of 4,946 samples yielded 102 (2.1%) cases. The positivity increased from zero during the initial weeks to 2.6% in the 14th week,¡± the report notes. One hundred and two of these cases were from samples gleaned from March 22 to April 2. ¡°Of the 102 COVID-19 positive SARI patients, 40 (39.2%) did not report any history of contact or international travel,¡± the study underlines. Only 2 of the samples from February 15 to March 20 later turned positive.

ICMR's overall conclusion on the basis of this report stated, "Covid-19 containment activities need to be targeted in districts reporting Covid-19 cases among SARI patients. Intensifying surveillance for Covid-19 among SARI patients may be an efficient tool to effectively use resources towards containment and mitigation efforts."

Reuters

While WHO has maintained that India has seen a cluster of cases, but there is no community transmission, ICMR's latest study refutes that claim. Though there has been no official word yet from the government on ICMR findings.

With 678 new cases reported in past 24 hours, the total number of coronavirus cases in India has jumped to 6412, showed latest figures from Union Health Ministry. The death toll from COVID-19 rose to 199 while 503 patients have been cured of the virus or discharged.

Maharashtra remains the worst affected state with 1,364 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu at 834 and Delhi at 720, Rajasthan at 463 and Telangana at 442.