NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday termed the worldwide fight against Covid-19 as “world war” and asked states to act vigilantly and harmoniously with the
Union government while directing them to increase
policing of crowded places to strictly enforce the 'mask must' rule as well as other preventive norms. The apex court emphasised that fundamental right to health includes
affordable treatment.
“It is a world war against Covid-19. Therefore, there shall be a government-public partnership to avoid world war against Covid-19. Every state must act vigilantly and work with the Centre harmoniously. It is time to rise to the occasion. Safety and health of citizens must be the first priority, rather than any other considerations,” a bench of
Justices Ashok Bhushan, R S Reddy and M R Shah said.
The bench said treatment of
Covid patients had become very costly and was going beyond the reach of the common man. “Even if one survives from Covid-19, many times financially and economically he is finished. Therefore, either more and more provisions are to be made by the state government and the local administration or there shall be a cap on the fees charged by private hospitals, which can be in exercise of the powers under the Disaster Management Act," the bench ordered.
Expressing shock and dismay over the casual attitude of people towards the dreaded infectious disease that has killed over one and a half million people world over and 1.45 lakh in India, the bench said police should be deployed in more numbers in crowded places to monitor and enforce ‘mask must’ rule and other preventive standard operating procedures. “More and more police personnel shall be deployed at places where there is likelihood of gathering by people, such as food courts, eateries, vegetable markets (wholesale or retail), sabzi mandis, bus stations, railway stations, street vendors etc. curfew on weekends/nights be considered by states where it is not in place,” the bench said.
“In a micro containment zone or in an area where the number of cases are on the higher side, to cut the chain, they should be sealed and there should be complete lockdown so far as such areas are concerned. Such containment areas need to be sealed for a few days except essential services. The same is required to break the chain of virus spread. Any decision to impose curfew and/or lockdown must be announced long in advance so that people may know and make provisions for their livelihood, like ration etc," it said.
“As far as possible, unless must, no permission shall be granted by the local administration or the collector/DSP for celebration/gathering even during day hours and wherever permissions are granted, the local administration/DSP/collector/police in-charge of the local police station shall ensure the strict compliance of the Covid guidelines/SOPs,” it added.
There should be a mechanism to check the number of people attending such functions/gatherings, such as particulars with respect to how many people are going to attend the celebration/gathering, timings during which the celebration/gathering is to take place etc, it said.
The SC stressed the need for more and more testing and declaration of correct facts about Covid infections to prevent the public from becoming negligent by getting the impression that things are getting better. “Whenever directions are issued under the Disaster Management Act directing corporate hospitals/private hospitals to keep 50% or any other percentage free municipal beds, it must be strictly complied with and there shall be constant vigilance and supervision,” the bench said.
The bench factored in the fatigue of doctors and health workers who have been working tirelessly and continuously for the last eight months and asked the Union government to devise a mechanism to give them intermittent rest. Solicitor general
Tushar Mehta assured the court that the Centre was already working on a scheme and would finalise it within a few days.
Keeping in view elections in some states next year necessitating political rallies, the SC asked states and UTs to issue directions to ensure compliance of EC guidelines on political gatherings and rallies. It asked states to file affidavits within four weeks regarding compliance of its directions.
The bench considered fire safety issues relating to hospitals and said all states and UTs must appoint a nodal officer for each Covid hospital, who shall be made responsible for ensuring compliance of all fire safety measures. It directed setting up of district-level committees for carrying out fire audits of each Covid hospital at least once a month.