New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to issue directions to states for payment of salaries and providing necessary quarantine facilities to doctors and healthcare workers engaged in treating COVID-19 patients.

A bench of justices Ashok Bhushan, S K Kaul and M R Shah said that doctors and healthcare workers treating COVID-19 patients should not be denied quarantine facilities.

The top court asked the Centre to file a compliance report within four weeks on payment of salaries and quarantine facilities to doctors and healthcare workers and warned that non-compliance would be viewed seriously.

The bench was hearing a plea filed by a private doctor raising questions on the Centre's May 15 decision that 14-day quarantine was not mandatory for doctors.