India is
leaving no stone unturned in fighting the coronavirus and government’s efforts in containing the
spread of the deadly COVID-19 have been appreciated by global agencies,
including the World Health Organisation (WHO).
However, the country is passing through the most crucial phase
of the transmission of the disease. According to the Indian Council of Medical
Research (ICMR), the country is in the second stage of transmissions, i.e.
local transmission. He also said that there is no sign of community
transmission, which is the third stage, even as the ICMR called upon private
labs for testing.
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However, the case of a 20-year-old man from Delhi testing
positive in Chennai has raised concerns of community transmission of the disease
as he has no travel history from overseas, except Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, in an address to the
nation, called for a ‘janata curfew’ from 7 am to 9 pm on Sunday, March 22. He
urged people to stay indoors and maintain social distancing in their bid to
curb the spread of the disease.
Let’s first understand the different stages of the spread of the
virus:
Stage 1 | Imported Cases: These are those who have travelled to virus-hit foreign
countries and have come back to India.
Stage 2 | Local
Transmission: These are those cases
that have come in contact with patients who have a travel history.
Stage 3 | Community
Transmission: Community
transmission is when a patient not exposed to any infected person or one who
has travelled to any of the affected countries tests positive. Large areas get
affected when community transmission takes place.
Stage 4 | Epidemic: This is the last and the worst stage where
the disease take the shape of an epidemic with no clear end point like it did
in China.
The government has
also proposed certain social distancing measures as a preventive strategy for
implementation, a health ministry official said, adding that these
interventions are proposed to be in force till March 31.
The
key measures proposed include closure of all educational institutions –
schools, colleges and universities – gyms, museums, cultural and social
centres, swimming pools and theatres, he said. – Sources
