Coronavirus disease or COVID-19 which was first identified in Wuhan, China, is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. It is zoonotic, thus can be transmitted between animals and humans. At the time of writing this article, COVID-19 has infected 1,669,595 people and has claimed 106,138 lives globally.
The common signs of this infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death. India has witnessed 308 deaths by far due to COVID-19 outbreak and has as many as 7,987 active Coronavirus cases.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), there are 4 stages of COVID-19 and India in stage two of the deadly disease. Let’s find out about these stages and what does each stage imply.
Coronavirus: Stage 1 (Imported and sporadic cases)- As per WHO, in this stage, there are no cases while according to ICMR in this stage, the disease is introduced to the population. People who have a travel history to affected countries became the carriers for the virus for India.
Coronavirus: Stage 2 (Local Transmission)- As per WHO, in this stage, the disease is sporadic and is either imported or locally detected and as per ICMR also, local transmission of the disease occurs. This means that people who have a travel history to affected countries transmitted the disease to the people they came in contact with. India is currently in this stage of COVID-19.
Coronavirus: Stage 3 (Community Transmission)- As per WHO, a cluster of cases are detected emerge in time, geographical location or through common exposure. According to ICMR, this stage is very serious as the people who neither have any contact with the infected person or have any travel history to affected countries become infected with the disease. In this stage, it is nearly impossible to break the chain of transmission as the people infected have no clue about how they became infected.
Coronavirus: Stage 4 (Epidemic)- Asp per WHO, in this stage, larger outbreaks of local transmission occur and ICMR also states that it is the stage where the disease leads to an epidemic within the population.
These were the four stages of coronavirus and India is currently in stage two. The cases in India are increasing at a rapid rate. To combat and to contain the spread of the highly contagious virus, India is currently under 21-days countrywide lockdown, as announced by Prime Minister Modi. Several reports claim that the 21-days lockdown will be extended by the government to curb the disease.