As the debate over community transmission of Covid-19 in India rages on, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) today said that the country has not yet reached that stage.

"There is a heightened debate on community transmission. WHO has not given definition on it. India is such a large country and the prevalence is so low. The prevalence is less than one per cent in small districts. It is slightly higher in the urban areas. In the containment areas, it may be slightly higher. But, we are definite that India is not in community transmission," ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava said Thursday.

In his daily press briefing, Bhargava said that there is no community transmission of Covid-19 at the national level and the lockdown measures have been "successful" in controlling the spread of the deadly virus until now.

The ICMR chief, however, said they have to continue with the strategy of testing, tracing, tracking and quarantine. He also stressed on to continue with the containment measures, saying "we have found success with those measures until now".

The ICMR's clarification comes amid India recording its biggest single-day jump in new coronavirus cases with 9,996 fresh infections and 357 patients dying, taking the total number of cases to nearly 2.86 lakh cases. This is the ninth consecutive day that the country – fifth worst-hit by the pandemic – reported over 9,000 Covid-19 cases..