Formulate SOPs for Covid complications: HC to Delhi govt

The petitioner, Rakesh Malhotra, a lawyer, told a bench of justice Hima Kohli and justice Subramonium Prasad, that there should be some SOPs for managing post Covid-19 complications in those who have recovered from the infection.

The Delhi high court on Wednesday directed the Delhi government to formulate standard operating procedures (SOPs) to deal with post Covid-19 complications and to ensure that facilities are available to test and quarantine travellers from the UK where a new strain of Covid-19 has emerged.

A health worker in PPE coveralls collects a swab sample from a person for coronavirus screening at a temporary testing facility in Sarai Kale Khan, New Delhi. (Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO)

The petitioner, Rakesh Malhotra, a lawyer, told a bench of justice Hima Kohli and justice Subramonium Prasad, that there should be some SOPs for managing post Covid-19 complications in those who have recovered from the infection.

The bench noted that Malhotra, who had been infected by Covid-19, continues to face serious health issues.

“The expert committee already constituted by the Delhi government shall examine the aspect and come up with a SOP, which will be given wide publicity,” the bench said.

“Keeping in mind the recent decision of the Central government of suspending flights from UK to India till December 31 due to an apprehension of transmission of a coronavirus variant that can spread very fast and the fact that a large number of persons had flown into Delhi before suspension of flights from UK, Delhi government shall ensure prompt and adequate testing and follow up in respect of those found positive with all seriousness to avoid another spate of infection in the city,” the bench directed.

During the hearing, the Delhi government’s counsel filed a status report which says that in a meeting held on December 21 by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), it was decided that the “representative testing” shall be done with the focus on pockets where the positivity rate is more.

According to the status report filed by the Delhi government, as of December 19 the positivity rate was below 2 per cent in all districts except north-west where it was 2.12 per cent. It also detailed the district-wise positivity rate which had court had asked them on the last date.

“The positivity rate in Delhi between December 11 and 20 shows that it has climbed down from 2.64 to 1.29. It may be emphasized that while following the representing testing, suggested by DDMA, Delhi government shall ensure that testing through RT-PCR remains higher than through RAT,” the court said in its order.

The matter would be now heard on January 14, 2021.