COVID19-Concrete Steps Need To Be Taken By State To Protect People From Onslaught Of Pandemic: Uttarakhand High Court Issues Directions

Hearing a batch of pleas filed in relation to critical condition prevailing in the State with regard to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday (April 28) issued the following directions to the State Government. The Bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma observed that the State was fighting a major war against the pandemic and that despite the substantial steps taken by the State Government, still certain concrete steps needed to be taken by the State Government in order to protect the people from the onslaught of the pandemic. State's submission The State Government informed the Court that the State had taken certain substantial steps. Firstly, for breaking the chain of infection of COVID-19, a full curfew had been imposed on major cities and towns of the State. Secondly, the State Government had given sufficient discretionary power to all the District Magistrates to decide the extent and duration of the curfew to be imposed in their respective towns and cities. During the full curfew, only essential services, and shops, which cater to the essential needs of the people, are permitted to operate; the rest of the shops and services are closed. In order to solve the problem of dearth of medical staff, the State Government had already requested the UPNL to ensure that even retired Army doctors and nurses could be made available to the State Government in order to strengthen the medical staff. The State already has three units, which are producing oxygen tanks, there is no dearth of availability of oxygen tanks within the State. The state was trying its level best to procure a sufficient number of vials of Remdesivir Injection in order to ensure that a sufficient number of medicines are available for public consumption. Court issues the following directions to the State Government:- Immediately establish such Health Centers/Care Centres in Ramnagar for the benefit of the people of Ramnagar. Since the number of PHCs functioning in the State is only 239, the number of PHCs should be increased in the State to a reasonable number. Immediately examine the number of E-cards, which have been issued to the people under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana/Ayushman Bharat Yojana, and to also consider ways and means of increasing the disbursement of such E-cards to the particular category, which is entitled to the said E-cards. Similarly, he is also directed to ensure that E-cards issued under the Deen Dayal Antyodya Upchaar Yojana are increased to the largest extent possible so as to give the benefit of these E-cards to those, who are living below the poverty line. The Director-General, Health should also ensure that private hospitals permit people to take advantage of such E-cards, and private hospitals should treat those persons, who carry such E-cards. Considering a large number of samples, which still need to be tested, and the results need to be declared, this Court directs the State Government to involve all the private hospitals/clinics/laboratories to carry out the Rapid Antigen Test (RAT)/RT-PCR/TrueNat tests. As directed earlier, the number of samples that need to be taken in the large cities like Dehradun, Haridwar, and Haldwani should be increased to anywhere between 30,000-50,000 per day. Keeping in mind the need for collecting the samples, the facility of home collection needs to be increased phenomenally. Until and unless the senior citizens are tested, the extent of the illness amongst the senior citizen population cannot be known. Since there is a dearth of staff, who can carry out these tests, the Government should seriously consider employing the registered final year dental surgeons in order to supplement the MBBS and nurses, who are employed, or who are carrying out the pre-screening tests. It is imperative that the medical staff should be provided with protective gears. A sufficient number of helplines should be established at the district level, and the helpline numbers should be publicized by each District Magistrate immediately through electronic and print media. All the District Magistrates are directed to ensure that complaints of black-marketing of medicines/essential commodities are immediately enquired into. In case black-marketing of medicines/essential commodities is discovered, the District Magistrates are directed to take strict action against such black-marketers in accordance with law. All the District Magistrates are also directed to inquire into the overcharging of the amount by the ambulances for ferrying the dead bodies to the crematoriums. If such overcharging is discovered, immediate action should be taken against the owners of such ambulances in accordance with the law. The Hospitals are directed that before releasing a dead body, where the person had died due to COVID-19, the dead body is wrapped in a bodypack kit,...

COVID19-Concrete Steps Need To Be Taken By State To Protect People From Onslaught Of Pandemic: Uttarakhand High Court Issues Directions

Sparsh Upadhyay

Tags