As COVID-19 cases increase across the globe, WHO south-east Asia regional director

says the risk is very high even in India and a shift in testing strategy will be needed. Asserting that testing and isolating is critical, Singh tells Sushmi Dey that it is encouraging to see India’s efforts being led by the highest political leadership. Excerpts:

Positive cases of COVID-19 are increasing rapidly. How serious is the situation in your view?

Do you think India is on the right track as far as its strategy is concerned?

Do you think there is a need for India to move towards

testing now?

What are the measures required to tackle community transmission?

What is the possibility of community transmission in India, especially now that cases are increasing fast?

Do you think there is a need for lockdown in India?

Is India adequately equipped to handle the situation in case of an epidemic here?

How effective are the two anti-HIV drugs in treatment? Do you recommend their use?

How is the

related situation evolving in the region? Which are the countries doing better and do you expect cases to increase in near term?

What is the update on vaccine against coronavirus?

The risk of COVID-19 globally, including India, is very high. WHO is deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of global spread and severity of the disease. As of this morning, well over 1,60,000 cases have been reported from over 150 countries . These numbers have increased manifold in recent weeks, prompting WHO to characterise COVID-19 as a pandemic.It is very encouraging to see India’s efforts being led by the highest political leadership who continue to review the situation, preparedness and response. The country has been responding to the evolving situation. WHO has recommendations for countries preparing for the first case, the first cluster and community transmission and India’s containment plan is in line with it.India has been testing suspected cases and contacts of confirmed cases. We are aware that laboratory capacities have been augmented with many more laboratories now collecting samples. As the situation evolves a shift in the testing strategy will be needed. Now that countries report more cases as well as clusters, WHO recommends scaling up measures to detect, test, treat, isolate and trace contacts. Testing and isolating is critical to break the virus transmission.A: Community transmission means the source of infection is from the community as opposed to households or health facilities. As such the source is unclear. It requires a whole of society approach, where everyone has a role to play if transmission is to be slowed. To slow down transmission, everyone needs to practice hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette, and physical distancing from other people. Surveillance needs to be ramped up...For the sick, care needs to be prioritsed, with triage procedures activated.The situation is evolving rapidly. From the onset, WHO has been recommending all countries to prepare for the first cases of importation, first cluster as well as community transmission – with the risk of all three being real in all countries.Every country makes its own decision in terms of evolution of the outbreak and should decide to implement the most appropriate measures adapted to the local contexts. In particular, we encourage citizens to follow guidance from health authorities and reach out to support others. Practicing social distancing has been found to be effective to slow down transmission. Policies such as working from home can alleviate crowding in offices and public transport, and cut down risk of virus spread.WHO has been recommending all countries to scale-up emergency response mechanism. India has been taking measures which are effective in the current context. As the situation evolves, the country would need to scale up accordingly.So far, we have no evidence that any drug is effective. There are no specific treatments for this Covid-19 and treatment is based on clinical presentation. WHO recommends enrolling into a randomised controlled trial to test efficacy and safety of interventions. A master global clinical trial protocol for research and prioritisation of therapeutics is ongoing at WHO.Countries in the region are at various stages of response. While Thailand, Indonesia and India are dealing with clusters of transmission, there are also countries like Bhutan and Nepal with one case of importation and countries who are yet to get any case.So far WHO has received applications for review and approval of 40 diagnostic tests, 20 vaccines are in development and many clinical trials of therapeutics are underway. We expect the first results in a few weeks.Vaccines usually take several years. We were able to shorten that in the development to the vaccine for Ebola by harnessing global efforts. We are already working to do the same for COVID-19.