HYDERABAD: The Telangana high court on Thursday directed the state government to take immediate steps to prevent public gatherings during Christmas, New Year and Sankranti in light of the threat from Omicron variant of Covid-19.
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice N Tukaramji, that was hearing a batch of public interest petitions on Covid-19, also directed the state to evolve a mechanism to screen people, particularly at airports, coming to Telangana from other states.
The bench also directed the state to strictly follow instructions given by the Union health ministry on December 21 to arrest the spread of Omicron. “We are directing the state to strictly comply with those guidelines. Place a compliance report before us by January 4,” the bench said.
Health min tightlipped on curbs
Speaking to reporters, health minister Harish Rao refused to give details of possible curbs planned. “We respect the directives of the high court,” he said. “Once we get a copy of the order, we will review measures in the cabinet and bring all details to the notice of the CM.”
Appearing for petitioners, senior counsel L Ravi Chander and another counsel Chikkudu Prabhakar said they were concerned over scanty precautionary measures despite the virus being present in the state. The coming festivals would result in huge congregations and are likely to be trigger points for a fresh outbreak, they said.
Pointing out the need for preventive measures in Telangana too, Ravi Chander said the state was third in the country in terms of Omicron spread. He added that Delhi and Maharashtra had already initiated measures to check the spread of the new variant.
Telangana’s special counsel A Santhosh Kumar earlier furnished a status report to the court detailing the steps taken by the state to control Covid-19 and its new variants.
