Reality contrary to Guj govt’s claims: HC on Covid situation

The Gujarat high court pulled up the state government on Monday over the Covid-19 situation in the state and problems being faced by citizens, saying the reality is contrary to what the government claims.

“People now think that they are at God’s mercy,” a division bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Bhargav Karia said while hearing a PIL, taken up suo motu (on its own), on the situation in the state.

The HC also suggested some steps, like capping the number of guests at weddings to 50, instead of 100 at present, limiting the number of people at funerals, ban on all kind of gatherings, limiting the number of employees in offices and designating one person in each society to coordinate with authorities. Gujarat has been reporting over 5,000 new cases of coronavirus since the last two days.

Advocate General Kamal Trivedi informed the HC about various steps taken by the Gujarat government, but the bench refused to accept most of the explanations, be it on the availability of beds or Remdesivir-the key anti-viral drug currently in high demand.

“The situation is quite different than what you are claiming. You are saying that everything is alright. But, the reality is contrary to that,” the court said.

There is a “trust deficit” among people, the HC observed during the hearing held via video conference. “People are cursing the government and the government is cursing the people. This will not help. We need to break this chain of infection.”

On some media reports claiming there was a shortage of Remdesivir injections and long queues outside a hospital to get it, Trivedi told the court that people who do not need the drug were also trying to buy it as a precautionary measure.

Remdesivir is not required if the patient is under home treatment or is asymptomatic and not critical. The supply is also less from firms, he informed. “Only seven companies make it. The production is just 1.75 lakh vials per day. We are procuring around 25,000 injections every day for Gujarat,” Trivedi said.

People are cursing the govt and the government is cursing the people. This will not help. HIGH COURT