Growing numbers: The Hindu Editorial on India’s COVID-19 preparedness
The HinduOn Monday and Tuesday, India reported three more coronavirus disease cases — one each from Delhi, Hyderabad and Jaipur — bringing the total number to six. On Tuesday, the Health Ministry said that six people in Agra who had come in contact with the COVID-19 index case in Delhi have been “detected with high viral load” and kept in isolation. Community transmission should not come as a surprise in light of the fact that the six confirmed cases had come in contact with many people before their infection status was confirmed. The Health Ministry’s Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme network is in hot pursuit to trace people who have come in contact with the six people whose samples have been sent for confirmation. While thermal screening at airports and seaports does help in detecting people with a fever so that further screening and testing can be performed to ascertain the infection status, it is essential that people who have arrived in the country seek immediate medical care and testing when symptoms show up days after landing.