India between Stage 2 and 3 of COVID-19 pandemic: health ministry

INDIA is between Stage 2 and 3 of coronavirus pandemic with large number of cases being found in particular areas, the health ministry said.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director Dr Randeep Guleria said that "localised community transmission" has been seen in some pockets and that India is between Stage 2 (local transmission) and Stage 3.

He is also a member of a Task Force on COVID-19.

Later, he had clarified that the most of India is currently at Stage 2 of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lav Agarwal, joint secretary in health ministry said that they go for a cluster containment strategy when limited cases are reported from a particular area while the government's action and intervention gets intensified when larger number of cases are reported.

"We are in between Stage 2 and 3 and that implies that our efforts and actions should be focused on ensuring we do not shift to stage 3," the joint secretary said.

He added that there are clear defined strategies for containment in areas reporting larger number of cases and the government was working according to that.

In Stage 2, disease transmission is limited to those with travel history to affected countries or those in contact with the infected persons.

Community transmission or Stage 3 means a patient was infected though he had no known contact with another confirmed case of COVID-19 or travelled from a country affected by the pandemic.