Coronavirus: No community transmission of COVID-19 yet, says Centre; Cases rise to 323

India on Saturday revised its testing strategy for Covid-19 as the number of patients infected rose to 323, but insisted that there was no evidence yet of community transmission of the disease.

Moving into battle mode, the Centre asked hospitals and medical education institutions across the country to gear-up for influx of patients even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued fresh appeal asking people to observe a self-imposed curfew on Sunday to test the nation's resolve in fighting the contagion.

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Amids reports of COVID-19 patients with no travel history and no known contact from Pune and Tamil Nadu, the Union Health Ministry insisted that there was no community transmission of the disease as yet and government efforts were focused on breaking the chain of transmission.

“As of today, we are contact-tracing over 7,000 persons, we will let people know if we find cases of community transmission,” Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health, told reporters here.

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“The health facilities and services are being amped up. As many as 111 labs have been made functional. We have also facilitated training for critical care services in India,” Aggarwal said.

As the number of patients witnessed a sharp increase, India revised it’s testing norms asking hospitals to screen all patients suffering from severe acute respiratory illness – fever and cough and/or shortness of breath for the disease.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) issued revised guidelines for testing and asked hospitals to test those asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts that have come in touch with a confirmed case once between day 5 and day 14 of coming in contact of a COVID-19 positive person.

The government is likely to issue guidelines for private labs carrying out tests for COVID-19 with clear instructions to follow the protocol issued by the ICMR.

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Aggarwal urged citizens not go for coronavirus tests “out of fashion” or as a confidence-building exercise.

Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and her lawmaker son Dushyant Singh on Saturday announced that they medical tests had revealed that they were not infected with COVID-19.

“After conducting a COVID-19 test, I’m happy to inform you that the results came back negative,” Raje said. Raje and Singh were present at a get together in Lucknow where singer Kanika Kapoor, who was found infected with COVID-19, was also present.

Singh's meetings with President Ram Nath Kovind, presence in Parliament during the ongoing Budget Session and interactions with Union Ministers, government officials and fellow parliamentarians had triggered a scare in the national capital.