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The Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) has denied Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s claim that he had been told by experts from the Chandigarh-based Institute of coronavirus infections peaking by mid-September. Singh had stated during a video conference call earlier in the day that he had been advised by experts from PGIMER about infections in India peaking by mid-September.
“It's clarified that PGI, Chandigarh isn't aware that any expert/faculty member from Department of Community Medicine & School of Public Health of the institute carried out any study that COVID-19 may peak by mid-September and can infect 58 per cent of country’s population,” the Public Relations Officer (PRO) said in a clarification statement.
The PGIMER’s clarification is in line with what the Union Health Ministry had stated during its daily press briefing earlier. "I reiterate, there is no community transmission yet across the country. We must all ensure we follow the lockdown and rules strictly," Luv Agarwal, the joint secretary at the ministry, said during the briefing. Agarwal cited the number of tests conducted on Thursday to reinforce his point, revealing only 0.2 per cent of the 16,002 samples tested yesterday returned positive results.
"On the basis of the samples collected, the infection rate is not high,” he said.
The Punjab CM, during a video conference, said earlier in the day that most of the 27 new cases recorded in Punjab on Thursday were those of secondary infection. "In Punjab, 27 cases are there with no travel history. Yes, it can be said that most of them are cases of community transmission," Singh had said.
Community transmission is the third stage in the epidemic, when it becomes difficult to trace the original source of infection. The penultimate stage in the spread of a disease, only an epidemic stage is worse than community transmission.
Also read: 27 people in Punjab got coronavirus through community transmission, says Punjab CM
