Telangana High Court on Tuesday sought to know from the State government if adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) kits were made available to all doctors and para-medical staff attending on COVID-19 patients.
A bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A. Abhishek Reddy, while hearing a batch of PIL petitions on incidence of coronavirus and government measures, said ensuring safety of doctors and para-medics was a priority. The bench made this observation, referring to newspaper reports that doctors, nurses and staff members of a government hospital were quarantined after learning that a two-year-old kid admitted in a government hospital tested positive for coronavirus.
This incident raises questions over the precautions taken by government at hospitals. It also indicated the unpreparedness of the government to tackle the situation, the bench said.
Advocate General B.S. Prasad said that along with N95 masks, PPE kits were supplied to all hospital staff and doctors. The AG submitted to the bench that the said hospital was not in the category of treating COVID-19 patients.
Safety measures
Differing with the AG’s contentions, the bench said it would be better to seek details from the field-level officers on the matter. The bench instructed superintendents of all government hospitals to furnish details of the PPE kits supplied to them and the safety measures they are taking to check spread of the virus.
One of the petitioners’ lawyer contended that, as per World Health Organisation advisory, even the staff working at the out-patient wing and emergency department should be provided with PPE kits. There were instances of the doctors and staff protesting over lack of adequate PPE kits and masks, he told the bench.
Test centres
The lawyer presented to the bench that people from interior and rural areas of the State are compelled to come to the capital city for diagnosis of the virus. He sought direction to the government to conduct diagnostic tests in district headquarters other than Hyderabad.
The bench observed that the government can explore the possibility of using rapid diagnostic kits. The Institute of Preventive Medicine director Shankar, participating in the hearing through video-conferencing, said on an average 4,000 diagnostic tests can be conducted through nine approved laboratories in the State.
The WHO instructions in tackling COVID-19 were being complied with completely. Scarcity of PPE kits was reported in all parts of the country and they were being supplied in all required places in the State.
The petitions were posted to May 8 for further hearing.
