Coronavirus: ICMR advises against smoking, gutkha use to prevent transmission

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has advised people against smoking and gutkha consumption in a bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

ICMR has said that spitting in public can cause transmission of COVID-19, the disease that results from coronavirus.

Further, the biomedical research body has said that social distancing and lockdown remain the biggest “vaccine” for COVID-19 so far.

No vaccine for the contagion has been developed yet. A number of medical bodies across the globe are working on a vaccine.

Governments across the world are advising people to adopt precautionary measures to avoid contracting coronavirus. Use of masks has become ubiquitous in a bid to prevent transmission

In India over 14,000 self help groups across 399 districts have started mask manufacturing, the health ministry said in a press conference on Sunday.

Lav Agarwal, joint secretary in the Union health ministry, further revealed that 472 new cases and 11 deaths have been recorded in the country in the last 24 hours.

Over 3,000 people in the country have tested positive for coronavirus, while 75 people have died due to the contagion. Globally, the death toll has exceeded 65,000.