DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand High Cout on Tuesday directed the government to supply ventilators to all the 15 hospitals designated as COVID-19 treatment centres in the state within 7 days.
Dushyant Mainali, a practicing advocate who filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the court pertaining to safety equipments and other essential machines such as ventilators, said, "The honorable court has directed the state government to ensure the supply of ventilators in all hospitals in the state within 7-days."
Last week, the HC, while hearing a PIL, asked the state government to apprise the court whether "any additional measures can be incorporated in at least the main and the most frequently visited government hospitals of the state so that the doctors who are examining the patients in their OPD are properly protected in these times".
Later, advocate Dushyant Mainali had written to the High Cout chief justice on April 7 raising concerns over medical facilities to fight the COVID-19 outbreak.
The letter requested immediate steps to effectively implement the guidelines of WHO and the central government to prevent the spread of the infection, to do ensure availability of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), to immediately seize and prohibit the sale/ black-marketing of all the thermal/ infrared thermometers, gloves, surgical masks, face shields and PPE suits available in any of the retail/ wholesale surgical shops/stores/ godowns /dealerships of the state so as to restrain their supply to any other person other than the health professionals dealing with COVID-19 cases.
The letter further urged the court to ensure that the payments for the medical items is made on scheduled rates. The court was also urged to ensure interim possession of all such items in the possession of all the private hospitals/ clinics/ polyclinics throughout the state in favour of state health department so as to provide them to frontline COVID-19 dedicated medical staff and screening teams and to perform their statutory duty and provide adequate security to doctors and other para-medical professionals, including separate transportation facilities, separate accommodation/ isolation rooms to protect exposure of their families, and food facilities.