‘Community Transmission Already Well-established…’: ICMR Experts, Others Criticise Govt’s Handling of COVID-19 | Earth Indian

New Delhi: The Centre on Saturday announced phased exit from the lockdown June 1 onwards. However, experts including those from the apex health research body ICMR have slammed the government for its handling of the COVID-19 crisis. The experts added that community transmission is already well-established across large sections or sub-populations in the country, and it was unrealistic of the government to expect that COVID-19 can be eliminated at this stage.

“It is unrealistic to expect that COVID-19 pandemic can be eliminated at this stage given that community transmission is already well-established across large sections or sub-populations in the country,” the Indian Express quoted from a joint statement issued by Indian Public Health Association, Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine and Indian Association of Epidemiologists.

It must be noted that the Centre has, so far, maintained that no community transmission has taken place.

“India’s nationwide lockdown from March 25, 2020 till May 30, 2020 has been one of the most stringent; and yet COVID cases have increased exponentially through this phase… This draconian lockdown is presumably in response to a modeling exercise from an influential institution which was a ‘worst-case simulation,'” the statement further read.

The signatories of the statement feel that the Centre should have “consulted epidemiologists who had better grasp of disease transmission dynamics compared to modelers”.

The experts also pointed out that the handling of the migrants’ crisis in the country has only posed more challenges in limiting the spread of the virus.

The health experts also made a range of recommendations such as the setting up of a panel of inter-disciplinary preventive health and public health experts and social scientists at central, state and district levels to tackle both public health and humanitarian crises.

Meanwhile, the pace of fresh coronavirus cases being reported across India accelerated in the past week. With cases over 1.73 lakh mark and the death toll closer to 5,000, India overtook Turkey to take the ninth spot among the ten worst-hit country by the deadly virus infection worldwide.

By Shivam Urkude || Earth Indian