India Probably Has Millions of COVID-19 Infections Already, Community Transmission is a Fact
- 3 years ago
In the interview to The Wire Prof. Laxminarayan said that whilst the phrase community transmission may not be a technical phrase it’s meaning in common parlance is clearly understood. It means that people are getting infected from within the community without knowing from whom or how. In other words, the source of the infection cannot be traced to someone who has come from abroad. In that sense, he said there was no doubt that community transmission was happening in India.
Prof. Laxminarayan said he was certain that the tens of millions of migrants who have gone back to villages in rural Bengal, UP, Bihar, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, etc. will lead to a surge of infections in these rural hinterlands. However, he was reluctant to accept reports in several newspapers that India would see its peak only in mid-November. Instead, he said India would see several regional peaks as individual states hit their peak at different times. He said in overall terms the picture or graph is of a high plateau stretching for several weeks or months with different states or regions peaking at different times.
Prof. Laxminarayan said he was certain that the tens of millions of migrants who have gone back to villages in rural Bengal, UP, Bihar, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, etc. will lead to a surge of infections in these rural hinterlands. However, he was reluctant to accept reports in several newspapers that India would see its peak only in mid-November. Instead, he said India would see several regional peaks as individual states hit their peak at different times. He said in overall terms the picture or graph is of a high plateau stretching for several weeks or months with different states or regions peaking at different times.