New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has asked the Delhi government to consult with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and publish the requisite standards on the collection of blood samples for COVID-related tests.
The court said the ICMR will highlight, on its website, how much blood sample is permitted to be collected for conducting the COVID-related tests.
"Let the Delhi government in consultation with the ICMR publish the requisite standards within one week,'' Justice Najmi Waziri said in an order passed on February 14 and uploaded on its website on Monday.
The court was hearing a petition by Dr Rohit Jain seeking contempt action against the authorities for not adhering to the court's earlier direction to take action against online health service aggregators which are operating illegally and collecting samples for COVID-19 tests.
His counsel submitted that in so far as the aggregators rendering service in Delhi apropos COVID related tests are concerned, there is no monitoring of it by the Delhi government and the service providers who may be located outside the national capital are operating without any supervision by any authority statutory agency or government.
Such unbridled commercial activity could have unfortunate consequences upon the health and safety of citizens, the counsel said.
The court's order came after advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that there is no clarification apropos any standards as to the collection of such sample and requisite quantum of the blood that should be drawn for the tests to be conducted.
The court noted that there is no mechanism of oversight by the State government, relating to the collection of blood samples in Delhi for tests.
''It would be in the fitness of things that a re-assurance to the residents of Delhi if the Delhi government were to formulate and operationalise a regime for surprise checks, inspections, and audits as may be appropriate,'' it said.