COVID CASES SEEN RISING AT SLOW PACE IN INDIA

On Day 2 of the 21-day nation-wide lockdown, there was both good news and bad news. The bad news is that the number of Covid-19 cases are on the rise, but the good news is that the rise in positive cases is not at a high rate. As the total number of positive cases reached 694 on Thursday and the toll rose to 15, officials said that even though 88 fresh cases were reported, the growth graph of Covid-19 cases in India is “relatively stable”.

“Though the cases of coronavirus are increasing in India, we are realising that the rate at which cases are increasing is slow. We are noticing a relatively stable trend or little bit reduction in rate of increase in cases,” said Lav Aggarwal, joint secretary in Union health ministry.

“This, however, does not establish a clear trend. We are hopeful that by following the social distancing, conducting a proper contact tracing and by ensuring all people at home quarantine are monitored, we will be able to combat the disease,” he said.

While keeping its fingers crossed, the government has intensified contact tracing of people who have returned from different countries. The Union health ministry officials added that India is still at the second stage as there is no “hard evidence” of community transmission.

ICMR scientist Dr Raman Gangakhedkar, who heads the epidemiology and communicable diseases department, said that “sporadic cases” in some states where no foreign travel history was found can’t be seen as community spread.