Wednesday, 21 April 2021 | PNS | Nainital
Hearing on public interest litigations regarding the dire condition of quarantine centres, the Uttarakhand high court has directed the health secretary to inform the court about the number of non-governmental hospitals and clinics in the state. The court has also asked whether private hospitals are providing 25 per cent of their beds for Covid patients. Seeking a detailed report on these aspects by May 6, the HC has directed that the number of ICUs and oxygen beds be raised in hospitals. Hearing the matter via video conferencing, the bench of chief justice RS Chauhan and justice Alok Kumar Verma directing the state to also set up CT scan machines in Covid hospitals and also sought a report on how much the state government has worked on the recommendations of the district monitoring committees.
During the hearing on Tuesday, the petitioners’ advocate said that many hospitals in the state lack proper medical health services. There aren’t adequate beds in hospitals and health workers lack PPE kits even as there is a shortage of Remdesivir injections. Barring the Government Doon Medical College hospital and the Sushila Tiwari government hospital, none of the government hospitals have CT-scan facility, the counsel said. It will be recalled that advocate Dushyant Mainali and Dehradun resident Sacchidanand Dabral had filed separate PILs regarding the condition of quarantine centres and facilities for native returning to Uttarakhand during the lockdown. The matter has been set for hearing next on May 10.
