HC to govt: Focus on testing, tracing Covid infections
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday told the Delhi government to focus on testing and tracing of COVID-19 infections and asked what measures it was planning to take for the same while hearing a plea for increasing testing figures in the Capital.
"What are the measures that you are planning to keep in place…mostly your testing has to be very focused and ensure tracing is equally focused so that those who are in home isolation remain in isolation and don't spread the infection," Justice Hima Kohli said.
The bench, which also included Justice Subramonium Prasad, further stated, "…almost everyone feels unsafe in the scenario in which we are…not just the infection but you don't know who's the carrier…both the things are weighing heavily in the minds of persons. Fear factor is huge and that is itself creating ripples."
In response, Additional Standing Counsel Satyakam told the court that officials
were regularly calling up those patients who are in home isolation and in case their phones were to be switched off, the officials were personally
going to their residence to check on them.
Significantly, Delhi, after having made concerted efforts, had managed to conduct a whopping 78,000 tests on Tuesday — the highest for any Indian city — yielding a daily positivity rate of 5 per cent.
On the government's recent order mandating work from home for 50 per cent of its employees working for non-essential services, the court asked ASC Satyakam as to what impact it will have on "people stepping back or staying at home."
Referring to the fresh status report filed before the court, Justice Kohli asked the state to apprise it of what inputs it has received from the meetings that have taken place between the government and the RWAs and market associations.
"What kind of headway has happened…what kind of inputs you have received is not there," the court stated.
The bench also noted that the status report does not indicate a feedback mechanism for the 1031 COVID-19 helpline as was mandated to be made available in the last order.
Justice Kohli further asked the government as to what was the turnaround time for a person to receive his COVID-19 test result from a private lab. On being informed by ASC Satyakam that the same is within 24 hours, Justice Kohli stated, "It is still around 48 hours…few of the court staff tested positive and they received their results within 48 hours and beyond…they should receive a message on their phones indicating their test results."
The court directed the state to file a fresh status report addressing the missing information by the next date of hearing on December 14.
