In a statement on March 5 , India’s ministry of health and family affairs made a startling claim about the spread of coronavirus in the cou...
In a statement on March 5, India’s ministry of health and family affairs made a startling claim about the spread of coronavirus in the country. “In addition to COVID-19 cases related to travel, some cases of community transmission have also been observed,” it said. COVID-19 refers to the latest outbreak of coronavirus that began in China in December 2019 and has killed more than 4,000 people across the world.
Community transmission is said to take place when the source of infection for a large number of cases in an area cannot be traced: when individuals pick up the infection without having travelled to countries where the virus is circulating or having been in contact with known confirmed cases.
The Indian Express noted the significance of the health ministry’s statement: “This makes India part of a small group of countries, including China, Japan, Italy and South Korea, where community transmission of the virus has taken place.”
But a week after the statement was released, health officials now deny India has experienced any community transmission of the coronavirus. So far, the government has confirmed 73 cases of coronavirus in India.
“Luckily for India, we do not have community transmission,” said Luv Aggarwal, joint secretary in the health ministry, at...
