ICMR finds 10% SARI patients positive for COVID-19, no community transmission yet

India Council of Medical Research (ICMR) found at least 10 per cent people have tested positive for Covid-19 due to severe acute respiratory illness (SARI), and also said that there is no community transmission of the virus so far.

India Council of Medical Research (ICMR) found at least 10 per cent people have tested positive for Covid-19 due to severe acute respiratory illness (SARI), and also said that there is no community transmission of the virus so far. R Gangakhedkar, scientist at ICMR said out of 110 such people, who were tested due to SARI hospitalisation, about 11 of them have tested positive for novel coronavirus.

"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.

Although, Gangakhedkar said that in the absence of proper guidelines, if self-testing kits are made available in public, then there are chances of creating panic and chaos among the people. "It is because the behaviour of the people cannot be anticipated and they can avoid contacting the authorities," he said.

Over 900 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in India and 19 people died due to the deadly virus so far. (ANI)