HC says TS is fudging Covid-19 case numbers
The Telangana High Court on Wednesday came down hard on the state government’s handling of the Covid19 pandemic and said that the government was trying to cover up the number of Coronavirus cases in the state and was furnishing fudged and juggled figures in the Health Bulletins that it issues.
The court also said the government was not providing sufficient protective gear to doctors and other medical staff and thus placing them at risk.
It called for superintendents of the government hospitals to appear before it at the next hearing and commented that the government seemed to have given up the fight and told the people to look after themselves.
Observing that the state government has been unable to contain the spread of Caronavirus, the court decided that it would hear directly from the superintendents of government hospitals what equipment is supplied to the hospitals and what care is provided to patients.
The High Court accordingly directed the Superintendents of Gandhi Hospital, NIMS, Fever Hospital, and King Koti Hospital to furnish information on how many PPE kits, gloves, N-95 masks and other medical equipment is stocked in their hospitals and how much has been distributed.
The division bench comprising Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy was dealing with petitions concerning the safety of doctors and other medical staff in government hospitals. The petitioners informed the court that the doctors and staff treating Covid-19 patients had not been provided good quality and sufficient number of protective gear.
The Bench also directed the Superintendent of Gandhi Hospital and the Director, Health Dr Srinivas Rao, to appear before it on Thursday to apprise the court on the present situation in Gandhi Hospital where junior doctors have been on strike for the last 15 days, their grievance being that Gandhi Hospital is overloaded with corona positive patients and there is a dearth of good quality protective medical gear for the medical staff. “It is unfortunate that 72 doctors are down with Covid and 400 medical staff are in quarantine and going by this fact, this court is more concerned about the health and safety of our doctors. Apparently, not even sufficient police personnel are deputed at the hospitals where corona patients are treated due to which the doctors are being bashed up by the relatives of the Covid patients and this is the reason for triggering of a strike by junior doctors in Gandhi Hospital,” the court observed.