Taking cognisance of the alleged scarcity of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the doctors and medical staff deputed to take care of quarantined persons at various health establishments of the State, the Jharkhand High Court on Friday sought a detailed reply from the State government on various points relating to the State’s preparedness in its fight against COVID-19.
The division bench of Chief Justice Dr. Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad took cognisance of the e-mail sent by advocate Indrajit Sinha raising the issue that the doctors and the supporting staffs, who are posted to take care of quarantined persons at Khelgoan and RIMS, do not have the Personal Protective Equipment despite the demand made by them.
The court said that the Advocate General has assured the court that sufficient number of PPEs are being supplied though there was initially dearth of that but now more than 1000 kits are available and within a week there would be sufficient available to cater the required.
However, the court has sought response of the Chief Secretary on behalf of the State Government by way of electronic mail. The court has asked whether the State Government has any positive figure regarding the number of persons returned or coming from outside to the State of Jharkhand during the period of lockdown or even one week prior to that including foreign nationals and whether they have been screened or are being screened properly?
It has also asked how many of them have been quarantined at quarantine centres and how many of them have been quarantined at their respective homes?
Also, how many doctors and support staffs have been engaged for taking care of quarantined persons in the State of Jharkhand at different quarantine centres of the State of Jharkhand including the homes of quarantined persons?
The court further asked how many PPEs have already been supplied and how many are in reserve? How many of the screened persons have been found positive with the Coronavirus? How many Testing Kits are available with the State Government and how many of them have already been supplied to the various centres of the State?
It further questioned how many ventilators are available in Jharkhand and how many would be required to cater to the present crisis? Also, whether the quarantine centres including the persons who are quarantined at home, sufficient security measures have been taken by the State so that they do not come in the contact with the persons of the locality? And, whether sufficient basic amenities, medical equipment, medicines and food etc are being provided to them?
The court has further asked to put up the matter before it on April 7.