HC seeks details from govt on various aspects of COVID management
Panaji: The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Thursday directed the state government to make from May 10 COVID negative certificate, issued 72 hours prior to travel, mandatory for those coming to Goa from other states.
The High Court’s division bench comprising Justice M S Sonak and Justice M S Jawalkar observed, “There is sufficient medical literature about the virulent nature of the new strain and how the same is spreading. The state government on its own should have imposed these minimum restrictions in the public interest. As observed earlier, the state could have and still can come out with a suitable protocol to mitigate the issue of supplies of essential goods and services. Such minimum restrictions, which several states have also adopted, are called if the epidemic is to be contained.”
“Therefore, by way of an interim order, we direct the state administration to ensure that no persons are permitted entry into the state unless they possess a negativity certificate obtained within 72 hours from the time they seek entry into the state. This will not prevent the state government from formulating a protocol to deal with the issues of essential supplies and the procedure for entry of the persons involved in essential supplies. This protocol should however provide necessary safeguards to ensure that such persons are not COVID positive at the time of entry into the state,” the HC added.
The division bench also said, “Be that as it may, we see no justification in the state of Goa not insisting upon a negativity certificate from persons who seek entry into Goa at this crucial juncture when reports indicate that the positivity rate in Goa is as high as 52 per cent. Some suitable mechanisms can always be formulated by the state to ensure that some testing facilities are available at the borders or entry points so the supplies of essentialities or in the ingress of essential personnel are not affected.”
The High Court further said, “But to permit virtually unrestricted entry in such critical times is not justified. Based on this unrestricted entry, Goa is touted as one of the few tourist destinations where all is well. This is neither fair to the populace in Goa already suffering from the overstretched medical infrastructure nor to the unsuspecting tourists who have to very often avail of the overstretched facilities at a great price. This is not a case of sealing the borders. This is only a case where steps are taken to ensure that the persons who are entering into Goa are not already tested as COVID positive so that they do not contribute to the spread of the epidemic and at the same time are cared for better in their own state.”
The HC also directed government to provide and update its website on real-time basis on bed availability for COVID patients, availability of oxygen, ICU, ventilators across hospitals.
The HC order came in response to three public interest litigations that have sought directions to the government for effective COVID management in view of rising number of COVID deaths and spiraling positive cases.
The HC also asked the government to provide test reports at the earliest and also provide information about vaccination of the 18 to 45 age group.
On the attacks on healthcare professionals, the court directed the government to provide sufficient police protection around hospitals and wards.
The HC directed the state to provide sufficient police protection around hospitals and wards; boards and posters be put up informing the public at large that there will be zero tolerance towards any form of violence against medical personnel and that it will be dealt with an iron hand.
The HC also asked the central government to place on record if any patient admission policy has been formulated as per the direction of the Supreme Court.
The HC said that an affidavit should be filed by the state government to give details in respect of purchase of 200 ventilators which the state government had assured to purchase through an affidavit filed before the High Court in March 2020.
The court said the affidavit of the state government should indicate whether any thought process has gone in respect of lockdown considering that the situation is out of control.
The state government has also been directed to make a clarification in the affidavit about the testing facilities.
The HC also directed the state to clarify in the affidavit on essential medicines available in Goa and steps taken to augment the same, as there are patients succumbing for want of medicines.
The HC also directed the state government to indicate in its affidavit whether facility for buffer stock of oxygen is in place as directed by the Supreme Court.
The HC asked both central as well as state governments to file their affidavits by May 10 and serve an advance copy to the counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners in these matters.
The matters are now posted on May 11 before the vacation judge.
Calling for clarity on the lockdown policy and guidelines, the petitions have demanded that entry into Goa should be allowed only to those possessing COVID negative certificates and that entry should be allowed only to residents of Goa and those who need to come in for urgent reasons till the present situation improves.
The first petition has been filed by the South Goa Advocate Association through its president Antonio Clovis Da Costa.
The second petition has been filed by Armando Gonsalves and Shruti Chaturvedi, while the third petition has been filed by Roshan Mathias and Arturo D’Souza.