Expressing concern over the health of a large number of public servants who will be on duty during the lockdown, the High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday asked the State government whether any special facility was in place for them in case they had to be tested for COVID-19.

A special Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Alok Aradhe posed this question while pointing out that there could be chances of these public servants turning primary contacts on coming in touch with suspected COVID-19 patients while discharging their duties. The Bench, which was hearing PIL petitions on shortcomings in COVID-19 health facilities, said that public servants working in various government departments, police, civic agencies, and courts in areas during lockdown require such a special facility for their health care during this period.

Is SMS valid for admission?

Also, the Bench asked the government to clarify whether a person who tests positive for COVID-19 can get admission in private hospital based on the SMS intimation received based on the lab test output notified on the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) portal.

1912 helpline of Bescom

As the 24x7 helpline for electricity supply in Bescom is also being used as a helpline for lodging complaints about denial of treatment or bed, the Bench asked how this helpline was useful as it was claimed by advocates for the petitioners that this electricity helpline will have to cater to 20,000 to 35,000 electricity-related complaints during monsoon.

To an earlier query by the court, the government said that lab test reports in certain cases may be delayed as a few labs were shutting on discovery of COVID-19 cases in the labs.

On a web portal set up to give real-time bed availability information in Bengaluru, the bench said that this should be in both Kannada and English as the information on the portal currently is only in English.