India Still In Local Transmission Stage, Says Health Ministry On Coronavirus

Ninety-two new cases and four deaths due to COVID-19 have been reported in India since Sunday, the Health Ministry said on Monday while reiterating that there has been no community transmission of the virus as of now.

Technically, COVID-19 is still in the local transmission stage in the country as there has been no community transmission as of now, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Luv Aggarwal said.

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Addressing the daily press briefing on the actions taken, preparedness and updates on COVID-19 at 4 pm, Agarwal informed that 92 new cases of COVID-19 and four deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours, taking total cases to 1,071 and the number of deaths to 29.

Underlining the importance of social distancing, said even one person's carelessness can lead to spread of this pandemic.

He said rather than spreading panic, there is a need for creating awareness about COVID-19.

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Speaking at the same press conference, R Gangakhedkar from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR ) said 38,442 tests have been conducted till now, out of which 3,501 were done on Sunday.

In the last three days, 1,334 tests have been done in private labs, he added.

"We are still at less than 30% of our testing capacity,” he added.