The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday said that India is in the stage of local transmission of the novel coronavirus but that there has been no community spread of the disease. In the local transmission stage, it is possible to trace how a person became infected – either through contact with infected people or someone with travel history – unlike the community stage where a person with no contact to a patient or suspected case contracts the infection.

In a document issued on Sunday regarding the Standard Operating Procedure for transporting suspected or confirmed Covid-19 patients to isolation facilities, the ministry had however said that there was local transmission and “limited community transmission” of the coronavirus in India.

Addressing a press conference on Monday, Ministry of Health Joint Secretary Lav Aggarwal said that 92 new cases of the coronavirus have been reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total count to 1071. With four new deaths, the toll in India is now 29.

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Speaking about the growth in the number of positive cases, Aggarwal said that it took 12 days for the cases to rise from 100 to 1000 in India while developed countries with better healthcare saw greater increase. Aggawal said that the lockdown and social distancing have achieved positive results. “In India it took 12 days for the cases to rise from 100 to 1,000,” he said. “In some countries, the cases increased by 6,000 to 8,000 within the same time. These are developed countries with better healthcare and lesser population.”

On the plight of migrant workers, the Health Ministry said states and Union Territories have been directed to ensure that food and other essentials are available to them.

At the press conference, Indian Council of Medical Research Chief Dr R Gangakhedkar said that 38,442 tests have been done for coronavirus till date out of which 3,501 were done on Sunday. “It means we are still at less than 30% of our testing capacity,” he said, “In the last 3 days, 1,334 tests have been done in private labs.”

India entered into a 21-day lockdown starting Wednesday – the longest among countries hit by the pandemic, which has killed more than 34,000 people across the world and infected 7,35,560 people. The United States has more than 1,43,055 cases, the maximum in the world.