Coronavirus: No Community Transmission In India, clarifies WHO

Days after suggesting that Indian is among countries that have entered the state of community transmission, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has clarified that there are “cluster of cases” not community transmission. According to a NDTV report, the error has been fixed. Earlier, Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director of the World Health Organization's South-East Asia region, had said that there was no community transmission in Indian as the new cases are traceable.

“Community transmission in any country is confirmed when the source of infection is unclear. In other words, when transmission in a given area - is extensive, in multiple locations, without reported travel history to areas reporting community transmission and without epidemiological links to known cases. Currently, cases in India have been traceable,” Khetrapal was quoted as saying by IANS.

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Meanwhile, India saw an increase of 547 new COVID-19 cases in the last 12 hours, according to the latest updates by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday morning. This surge took the total number of coronavirus positive cases to 6,412 in India. The death count due to COVID-19 in India rose to 199 with 30 new deaths being reported since Thursday evening. Twenty-five deaths were reported from Maharashtra, three from Delhi and one each from Gujarat and Jharkhand.

Out of the total cases, 5,709 are active patients while 504 of them have been cured/discharged and migrated, as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Out of the 6,412 case, 71 are foreign nationals.

State-Wise Status Of Coronavirus Cases

According to the ministry, Maharashtra is the worst-hit state with 1,364 positive coronavirus cases followed by Tamil Nadu which has 834 cases. The total number of cases reported in Delhi so far is 720. The cases have gone up to 463 in Rajasthan, while they have risen to 442 in Telengana. Uttar Pradesh has 410 cases so far, followed by Kerala at 357 cases. Andhra Pradesh has reported 348 coronavirus cases. Novel coronavirus cases have risen to 259 in Madhya Pradesh, 241 in Gujarat, 181 in Karnataka and 169 in Haryana. Jammu and Kashmir has 158 cases, West Bengal has 116 and Punjab has 101 positive patients so far.

Odisha has reported 44 coronavirus cases. Thirty-nine people were infected with the virus in Bihar while Uttarakhand has 35 patients and Assam 29. Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh have18 cases each while Ladakh has 15 and Jharkhand has 14 positive patients so far. Eleven cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands while 10 were reported from Chhattisgarh. Goa has reported seven COVID-19 infections, followed by Puducherry at five cases. Manipur has two while Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have reported one case each.

"State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation," the ministry said on its website.