In view of the rising COVID-19 cases in the country, the Supreme Court on Wednesday made it mandatory for all the entrants to its premises with symptoms similar to those notified for COVID-19 infection to get tested for the infection.
The Supreme Court has come up with new guidelines to contain the spread of infection. India reported 1,84,372 new coronavirus cases in the preceding 24 hours as on Wednesday morning.
"All the entrants to the Supreme Court premises, i.e. the Registry staff, staff of the coordinate agencies, Ld. Advocates and their staff etc., if showing any symptoms similar to those notified for Covid-19 infection shall subject themselves to Rapid/RT-PCR test," the apex court said in a circular.
It also asked all Controlling Officers to ensure that the staff in their control wear mask, maintain physical distancing and frequently sanitise/wash hands and follow prescribed Covid-appropriate behaviour.
"Persons with notified symptoms like fever, cough, body-ache, loss of taste and smell, diarrhoea etc. shall restrict themselves from coming to office/premises, isolate themselves immediately and seek medical advice," it added.
There shall not be any crowding or loitering in the campus, and movement in common areas should be only for specific purposes and be completed within the minimum time, it said.
The circular also restricted the use of lift to not more than 3 persons at a time, and said lift should be used only for going upwards, while stairs should be used for coming downstairs.
At least 44 staffers of the Supreme Court had tested positive for COVID-19 during the last week. The court has been hearing the cases through virtual mode only because of the pandemic.
Edited by Rai Vinaykumar