The High Court of Tripura on Tuesday sought to know from the state government a host of key issues with regard to reduction in Coronavirus test, disposal of biomedical waste, malfunctioning of medical equipments and implementation of recommendations suggested by central expert panel. During hearing a suo motu PIL, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Akil A Kureshi and Justice Subhasish Talapatra, on perusal of the action taken report, directed the state government to file a precise reply by October 13 next.
Citing medical bulletins, the Bench noted that the COVID tests conducted everyday have come down substantially and the data would not be reliable to ascertain if the virus was spreading more or under control. “When compared with overall positivity rate from the beginning of around 6.75 pc, this rate is higher. Therefore, if the total number of positive cases is correlated with the reduced testing, the people of the state should not get a false idea that there is a dramatic improvement in the coronavirus spread and that the life should go back to normal. This would be a serious mistake with serious consequences”, observed the Court asking the government to consider diverting its excess capability of testing to other strategic locations.
Underlining the importance of dedicated donning and doffing area for PPE kits, as suggested by the central expert panel after noticing defects in disposal management, the Bench asked the state government to take steps to implement the recommendations. On the malfunctioning of medical equipments- ventilators, X-ray and CT Chest machines in the healthcare facilities, the Court sought the state government’s reply on suggestions made by central expert panel. Responding to this, the Advocate General informed the Court that most of the defects had been removed. However, the Bench instructed the government to file a status report on the next date of hearing.
Going by the reports of internal committee constituted for probing the issue of supply of PPE kits and other materials of inferior quality to government, the Bench also sought to know from the government what has been done about such defective materials.
“These reports suggest prima facie not only excess charges demanded by the agency for supply of the materials in some cases even the material supplied is found to be defective. Our query to the government, therefore, would be what has been done about such defective materials”, the Court commented. The court listed the matter for October 13.
