Covid-19: No community transmission yet, only “localized outbreaks”, says Health Ministry

New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry on Thursday said there is no community transmission of COVID-19 in India yet.

While speaking in a press conference, Rajesh Bhushan, Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Ministry of Health said, “There is no community transmission yet, there are localised outbreaks. A total of 49 districts of the country account for 80 per cent COVID-19 cases,” Bhushan said the World Health Organization (WHO) has also not provided any standard definition of the localised outbreak and community transmission.

“World Health Organization (WHO) has also not provided any standard definition of the localised outbreak and community transmission. They have given its member states the right to report after assessing the local conditions,” he said.

Speaking about the “the virus may be airborne” he said, “It is a dynamic and evolving situation; we are keeping abreast with the information coming from WHO headquarters on this aspect.”

Meanwhile he said, “In near future, ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) is planning a follow-up seroprevalence study pan India to the earlier sero-surveillance that they had done for mid-April infections.” (ANI)