Keep extra med facilities for few more months: HC

Though the second surge of the pandemic appears to have subsided in both Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, the governments should not discontinue the additional facilities like increased number of beds and ready availability of both oxygen-supported beds and non-oxygen beds for the next few months, said the Madras High Court.

The first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy made the observation while taking stock of the State’s preparedness in handling the second wave through the suo motu petition it initiated.

“It is only hoped that the additional facilities are not discontinued for the next few months and even if it costs a bit more, they are maintained if only to ensure that the dearth that was faced during the second surge is not repeated,” Chief Justice Banerjee said, adding that the oxygen supply to the State and the Union Territory have been augmented.

The bench also pointed out that several aspects highlighted in the status reports, including the availability of beds, supply of oxygen, the augmentation of drug supply to deal with mucormycosis, and even the capping of the rates to be charged at private hospitals, need to be noticed.

In its order, the bench also recorded that several suggestions have been made, including the display of data on the State’s website because there was no shame in projecting the figures.

“The number of active cases, the number of deaths and other figures should be available on the State’s relevant website on an actual basis. It must also be recorded that there has been no allegation of underreporting of cases either in the State or in the Union Territory, unlike in some other places,” the Chief Justice said.

Recording another suggestion seeking to ensure that the entourage accompanying Ministers and MLA was limited, the first bench said, “All concerned, including the hospitals and clinics that the MLAs visit for the purpose of looking into the conditions there at or to oversee the treatment provided, should maintain the COVID protocol at all times.

“It sometimes happens that despite the person leading the team advising others not to accompany, the enthusiasm cannot be checked. There may be a need, at times, to restrict the number of persons accompanying legislators and the like while they go on their visits,” the bench added while posting the plea for further hearing to June 7.