Johns Hopkins University has said it did not authorize the use of its logo on a report titled ‘Covid19 for India Updates’. The report’s 33-page summary, dated 24 March, gained wide publicity in India because of its alarming nature about the spread of the virus in the country. The world-renowned university, in reply to a Twitter query about the origin of the report, said, “The use of our logo was not authorized in this case and JHU is engaging with CDDEP on it. Thank you."

CDDEP stands for US-based ‘The Center For Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy’ (CDDEP). It produced the study published on 24 March. CDDEP, which has offices in Washington and Delhi, claims to be a public health research agency employing scientists, public health experts, and economists around the world.

The report said community transmission in India most likely started in early March. Community transmission is the third and the most dangerous phase of the infection when the number of positive cases expands exponentially. The central government continues to maintain that community transmission hasn’t yet started in India even as some states are making preparations for the onslaught.

View Full Image Predicted infections

In its projections for India, the report had said the country could do better than others because of seasonality and its relatively young population. On the negative side, it said nutrition challenges and lack of social distancing could make it worse.

View Full Image Predicted hospitalizations





The fact remains that India has done better than most countries in containing the spread of the pandemic. There are 775 active cases of Covid-19 in the country, according to data available on ministry of health and family welfare.

Since the disease erupted in China in December, it has affected 906 people in India in all with 20 of them dead, according to data available on Johns Hopkins University website. This is when the US has 104,837 affected with more than 1600 dead.

Highest number of casualties, 9,134, has occurred in Italy followed by Spain’s 5,138. China has had 3,177 deaths though opaqueness around the country’s official numbers remains.

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