10 States contributing 75% of active cases suggest

India has reported large outbreaks of COVID-19 in certain districts and only 10 States are currently contributing to 75% of the active cases in the country, which suggests that coronavirus is still limited in its spread, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

In a written reply to a query in Lok Sabha on whether there is community transmission of COVID-19 in the country, Minister of State for Health Ashwini Choubey said the current phase of the pandemic in India is on multiple trajectories across urban and semi-urban areas of the country.

The epidemic curve of any pandemic goes through an ascending, peaking and descending phase, he said.

India has one of the lowest cases and deaths per million population among similarly affected countries. This is further corroborated by the fact that the nationwide sero-prevalence for COVID-19 conducted in May 2020, was found to be less than 1%, Mr. Choubey said.

The top 10 States with most active cases as on September 20 are Maharashtra 2,97,866 (29.47%), Karnataka 98,583 (9.75%), Andhra Pradesh 81,763 (8.09%), Uttar Pradesh 66,874 (6.62%), Tamil Nadu 46,453 (4.60%), Kerala 37,535 (3.71%), Chhattisgarh 37,489 (3.71%), Odisha 33,202 (3.28%), Delhi 32,064 (3.17%) and Telangana 30,573 (3.02%), the Minister said.

The Government of India has adopted a containment strategy for containing the spread of COVID-19 by suppressing and breaking the cycle of transmission in the country, Mr. Choubey said. – PTI