COVID-19 cases rise to 1637 including 132 recoveries; ICMR notes no evidence of community transmission

New Delhi, April 01: Standing in the eighth day of the 21 day lock-down, total corona confirmed cases as of April 1 stands at 1,637 with 1,466 active cases, 38 deaths, and 132 recoveries. "102 new cases and four deaths due to COVID-19 have been reported in India since Tuesday", the Health Ministry said while reiterating that there has been no community transmission of the virus as of now.

 

 

Indian Council of Medical Research Scientist Raman R Gangakhedkar further informed that in India total 42,788 coronavirus tests have been conducted so far. “Till now we have tested 47,951 samples, including 4,346 samples that were tested yesterday. It represents 36% of our capacity. 126 labs have been made functional, 51 private labs have been given permission. Yesterday 399 patients were tested in private labs".

 

This is after the ICMR has repeatedly assured the Indian public that there is no evidence of community transmission. However, what it has failed to mention is that until very recently, it was not testing enough for community transmission, thereby not only compromising India’s response to the pandemic, but may even have contributed to its spread in the country.

 

The impact of the coronavirus outbreak in India is slated to be much smaller and manageable as the big decision of nationwide lockdown and travel restrictions are put in place much before other countries. It would be difficult to say when the situation would stabilise since that would depend on various factors, including the effectiveness of the overall response.