Who asked you to get Covid-19?

The May 1 order spoke of how doctors, nurses, paramedics and other staff were getting infected and they were being “indiscriminately” being sent “in quarantine either at hotels or their homes for 14 days”.

Recall the Delhi government’s order, on May 1, which blamed doctors and nurses for getting Covid-19? That order was hastily withdrawn but, it appears, the attitude behind that order remains unchanged as a Supreme Court order on Friday makes clear.

The May 1 order spoke of how doctors, nurses, paramedics and other staff were getting infected and they were being “indiscriminately” being sent “in quarantine either at hotels or their homes for 14 days”. This practice, the order said, “is causing unnecessary shortage of doctors and staff at hospitals”. In the event, the government said that all those getting infected should be asked for a written explanation as to how this happened; weren’t they wearing the PPE or “maintaining safe distance”?

The furore after the order was leaked forced the Delhi government to withdraw it, but as a Supreme Court (SC) case on doctors not getting paid on time shows, the attitude remains unchanged. After reports of doctors and nurses not getting their salaries on time, the health ministry ordered that there should be no delays at least during the Covid-19 period. The Solicitor General on Friday told SC that five states – Delhi, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tripura and Karnataka – were not able to pay salaries on time because one of the problems was that when doctors and health workers were quarantined, “their period of quarantine is treated as on leave”.

The Solicitor General told SC this was unfair and that he would get necessary instructions or clarifications issued.