Coronavirus: As India Braces For Stage 3, What Are Four Stages Of COVID-19 Transmission

India is under a 21-day lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. However, it is also seeing a sharp rise oin number of cases with the total COVID-19 positive cases reaching near 900 on Saturday. While the government is implementing its plan to stop the coronavirus threat, there is an increasded probability of India entering Stage 3 of COVID-19 transmission.

So far, the government as well as agencies like Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have maintained that India is not witnessing community transmission of coronavirus. However, they are already getting ready to tackle such a situation.

As India braces for this, here is a quick guide to understand the four stages of COVID-19 transmission:

Coronavirus Stage 1: In the first stage of outbreak, the positive cases are only coming from abroad. At this stage cases are imported from affected countries without any local origin. Only those who have travelled abroad test positive for coronavirus and there are no local patients.

Coronavirus Stage 2: State 2 is when the disease transmission happens in people from a known source. The first stage advances to stage 2 when people who have come in contact with a patient who has travelled outside the country start testing positive. India is currently in stage 2.

Coronavirus Stage 3: India under threat of entering this stage. Stage 3 is when the source of the infection is not known and it starts spreading via local sources. Those who have not been exposed to an infected person or anyone with travel history to affected countries start testing positive for the coronavirus at this stage. Once the community transmission starts, it is very difficult to isolate and stop the coronavirus. US, Italy and Spain are currently in this stage.

Coronavirus Stage 4: The fourth and final stage means wide spread of the disease. At this stage, COVID-19 takes form of an epidemic and the death count skyrockets. Only China's Wuhan has seen this stage so far.