'Purported Statement Not From IMA HQ,' Indian Medical Association Clarifies Its Stand On Community Transmission

IMA believes that it is for the official agencies to ascertain this stage in the natural history of the epidemic. Crowd sourcing data can not replace authentic data, the statement read.

(PTI Photo)

New Delhi: Days after the Chairman of Indian Medical Association Hospital Board of India warned of community transmission in the country, the top medical body has distanced itself from the statement and has said that all presumptions in this regard should be considered a matter of personal opinion. In a statement issued on Monday, the IMA has said that the purported statement (on community transmission) is not from IMA HQs. IMA believes that it is for the official agencies to ascertain this stage in the natural history of the epidemic. Crowd sourcing data can not replace authentic data. IMA is confident that the public health authorities and the medical fraternity are fully engaged and prepared in containing the fallout, it said. It further said that data shows that the clusters are in urban metros and not in the countryside where open spaces are the rule. On Saturday, while speaking to news agency ANI, Dr V K Monga, the Chairman of IMA Hospital Board of India said that community transmission of the virus has begun in India. “This is now an exponential growth. Every day the number of cases is increasing by more than around 30,000. This is really a bad situation for the country. There are so many factors connected with it but overall this is now spreading to rural areas. This is a bad sign. It now shows a community spread,” he said. The statement,  notwithstanding  the government, set a wave of concerns across the country, as the Union Health Ministry has been maintaining that community transmission of Coronavirus has not started yet in the country. Government's claim is now being strongly challenged by independent health agencies of the country. “Cases are penetrating down into towns and villages where it will be very difficult to control the situation. In Delhi, we were able to contain it, but what about interior parts of the country in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Madhya Pradesh (which may be the new hotspots)?” Monga had said. “All these issues are very important and the state governments should take full care and seek help of the Central government to control the situation,” Monga said “This is a viral disease that spreads very fast. To contain the disease there are only two options. Firstly, 70 per cent population contracts the disease and gets immune, and other is getting an immunisation,” stated Monga. Currently, India stands as the third in the list of countries across the globe with maximum cases of Covid-19 after the US and Brazil. Also Watch | No community spread of Corona as of now: ICMR