As cases of corona virus infection in the country intensified, experts on Saturday lashed out at ICMR for the claims made on community transmission. Specialists said that the ICMR serosurvey does not reflect the current situation and the government is showing a stubborn stance in accepting the truth.
Emphasizing community transmission in many parts of the country, experts asked the government to accept it so that people do not become careless.
Experts Cornered the Government Over Community Transmission
Balaram Bhargava, director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), while releasing the results of the survey on Thursday, told the media that the phase of community dissemination has certainly not arrived in India. After his statement, experts in the field of viral pathology, public health and medicine have expressed this opinion.
According to the serosurvey conducted in various districts, 0.73 percent of the people out of the sample size of 26,400 have been affected by SARS-COV-2 in recent past. Former AIIMS director Dr. MC Mishra said that there is no doubt that there is community dissemination in many parts of the country.
Mishra told PTI, “Due to mass migration and exemption in lockdown, it accelerated further and the disease also reached areas where there were no cases.” The government should come forward at a time when people should be more cautious and do not become careless.
Regarding the ICMR serosurvey, he said that a sample of 26,400 people is insufficient to measure the spread of infection, especially considering the large population and diversity of the country.
Chief virologist Shahid Jameel said that India had reached the stage of community transmission much earlier. He said, ‘The only thing is that the health authorities are not accepting it. Even the study of severe respiratory disease under ICMR showed that 40 percent of those found infected with SARS-COV-2 had no recent travel abroad or exposure to an infected person. There was no information. ‘
Jamil, the chief executive officer of the Wellcome Trust, said the important point to consider is that ICMR has not disclosed the precision taken into account while conducting the survey. He emphasised that a difference of just one percent can bring huge changes in the result
Eminent lung surgeon Dr. Arvind Kumar said that even if the ICMR’s argument is accepted, there can be no denying that community transmission is happening in places like Delhi, Ahmedabad and Mumbai.
Kumar, who works at the Sir Gangaram Hospital in Delhi, said, “India is a vast country and every state has a different experience with the virus and the time to reach its peak.”
He told PTI, “Antibodies take two weeks to develop, so this survey reflects the April situation.” We were probably in the best condition in April. It is a wrong statement to say that we are not in a state of community transmission, based on a study that represents the situation of April.
