New Delhi: According to the ICMR compiled data, random Covid- 19 tests on patients with severe respiratory diseases is showing that more and more people with no travel or contact history are contracting the virus.

ICMR, the nodal body in the battle against the virus, showed that 38 per cent of such patients, who later tested positive for the virus, had no history of travel. Two weeks ago, when asked about the possibility of community transmission of Covid- 19, the ICMR had responded in the negative.

“Tests on SARI patients show no community transmission,” the agency said after random tests. SARI is Severe Acute Respiratory Illness and the ICMR were conducting random tests on them to check if any community transmission of the virus was happening. So far, most patients in India acquired the virus from their travels abroad, or from someone who travelled abroad. This makes zeroing in on patients and isolating them, and thereby curbing the spread of the virus, relatively easy.

As per ICMR data in the weeks before Mach 14, no SARI patient had tested positive for Covid- 19. But when the policy was changed – instead of random tests, all SARI patients were tested — two of 106 patients were found positive between March 15 and March 21. The big change came thereafter. Between March 22 and March 28, of the 2,877 patients tested, 48 (1.7 per cent) were found positive. Between March 29 and April 2, 54 out of 2,069 SARI patients, 54 (2.6 per cent) tested positive for Covid- 19. Altogether, out of 5,911 SARI patients, 104 (1.8 per cent) have tested positive for Covid- 19.

Forty of these patients did not report any history of international travel or contact. Such cases were reported from 36 Indian districts in 15 states. ICMR in its report has said “These districts need to be prioritized to target Covid- 19 containment activities.”