India among countries having COVID-19 local transmission: WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday (March 13) categorized India among the countries having local transmission of the novel coronavirus which has globally claimed 4,955 lives and infected more than 1,32,758 people.

According to a WHO report, local transmission indicates locations where the source of infection is within the reporting location.

In India, the instances of local transmission have already been reported in the case of five of the six family members of a COVID-19 infected patient in Agra. A similar situation arose in Kerala, Pune, and Delhi.

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This comes in wake of more than 700 employees of a Noida-based leather manufacturing company being quarantined after one employee at the factory tested positive for COVID-19. The 46-year-old man had the travel history of visiting Italy, which is one of the most affected nations outside China.

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However, the health ministry and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in two separate briefings on Friday (March 13) rejected the possibility of local transmission and still operates under the WHO category of “imported cases only” — which by definition indicates locations where all cases have been acquired outside the location of reporting.

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The move for closing borders, suspending visas, and limiting coronavirus tests only to those with a recent travel history and people who come in contact with them are some of the things included in the imported cases only category.

India has joined countries such as Italy, Korea and China in the category, all with high burdens of the virus and ongoing human-to-human contagion domestically, as reported by Caravan.