HC notice to govts on testing non-Covid patients

The Delhi high court on Tuesday sought responses from the Centre and the Delhi government on a plea seeking directions to test non-Covid-19 patients requiring surgeries

The Delhi high court on Tuesday sought responses from the Centre and the Delhi government on a plea seeking directions to test non-Covid-19 patients requiring surgeries and other procedures in hospitals.

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A bench of justice Hima Kohli and justice Subramonium Prasad issued notices to the authorities. The petitioner, advocate Sanjeev Sharma, also sought directions to the authorities to publish the correct Covid-19 data on their websites. The matter would be now heard on June 11.

The application was filed in an earlier petition by advocate Rakesh Malhotra, who alleged the state was not taking expeditious steps to furnish test reports. The court had disposed of the plea, directing the government to furnish reports within two days of the samples being collected.

On Tuesday, advocate Sharma told the court that there were several stories on social media, which highlighted “apathy” of city hospitals and government “inaction”, despite the surge in Covid-19 cases as well as deaths associated to the disease.

The court on Tuesday also issued notice to the Delhi government on a similar plea filed by an ENT specialist Dr Manni Hingorani, who had also sought testing of asymptomatic persons undergoing surgery.

The plea, filed through advocate Aman Hingorani, said not testing such patients would not only increase the risk to the patient but also expose doctors, nurses and other hospital staff to the virus.

The matter would be heard on June 16.