Coronavirus pandemic: No community transmission in India, WHO admits error

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday said that India has been wrongly represented at the stage of community transmission in its 'situation report' and the error has been corrected. India has a 'cluster of cases' as against 'community transmission', WHO told NDTV. The report earlier said that India had community transmission, while China -- the epicenter of coronavirus -- showed a cluster of cases. The WHO releases a coronavirus situation report for all countries on a daily basis. India has 6,039 coronavirus positive cases, while 515 are cured or discharged. A total of 206 deaths have been reported so far, the latest data by the Ministry of Health shows.

India is under a 21-day lockdown currently to fight against the spread of coronavirus. Earlier today, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan told a set of diplomats that there is no community transmission in India. He also said that 400 out of nearly 600 districts have remained unaffected so far. Meanwhile, Punjab has extended lockdown till April 30. It has become the second state to extend lockdown after Odisha announced a similar move on Thursday. The Odisha state cabinet also decided to request the Centre to extend the 21-day nationwide lockdown, ending on April 14, to April 30.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday reportedly said that lifting of lockdown looks unlikely on April 14. However, he also said that the chief ministers of various states would be consulted on the decision. Narendra Modi interacted with leaders of opposition today via video conference and discussed the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday. Narendra Modi has already interacted with the chief ministers of various states to discuss the rising spread of COVID-19. Another meeting is scheduled for the coming Saturday.

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