HC pats TS for timely action to ease COVID-19

Hyderabad: A division bench of the Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili directed the state government to submit details of the payment of compensation to the dependents of the deceased due to Covid-19 within six weeks. Further, the court directed the state to adhere to the latest guidelines issued by the government of India dated on February 25.

The bench was dealing with a batch of PILs and petitions related to the management of Covid-19, which has been pending since 2020. Director of medical health submitted a report with the details as to how many tests were conducted, inoculation of vaccination, hospitals and infrastructure.
In the report, it was submitted that 84 per cent of targeted people in the age group of 15-17 were being administered the 1st dose of vaccination since January 3 and 44 per cent of people got the second dose of vaccination. The report also envisages that around 4,45 lakhs of people above 60 years also got vaccinated with booster or precautionary dose.

The director of public health submitted that since the beginning of conducting Covid-19 tests till February 22, around 3.34 crores of tests had been conducted, out of which only 7,87,437 cases were confirmed as positive. He also said with the measures taken by the government and the dedication and involvement of medical staff, the pandemic was tackled in Telangana very effectively. Only 0.52 per cent of mortality was reported in the state, according to the affidavit filed by the director of public health.

The court appreciated the efforts of the Telangana government and Dr G. Srinivas Rao, director, public health and family welfare in taking timely steps in curtailing the fast-spreading Covid-19 and its new variant Omicron in the state. The Chief Justice said, “It is due to the sincere efforts of the state and Dr G. Srinivas Rao the state has not suffered many deaths caused by Covid-19. This court appreciates the efforts of the state and the director, public health and family welfare.”

B.S. Prasad, advocate general, said the Covid-19 situation was normalised as the number of cases had drastically come down and assured the court that the state would continue its endeavour in curbing further spread of Covid-19 and requested the court to close the batch of PILs filed on Covid-19.  But the court sought to know the latest position on the aspect of payment of compensation to the kith and kin of the persons who succumbed due to Covid-19 and directed the government to file a status report on this aspect within six weeks