Observing that “the healthcare infrastructure is at the stage of imminent collapse”, the Delhi High Court on Monday ordered the Centre and city government to give details on number of beds with or without ventilators and oxygen support.
A Bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Rekha Palli directed the Centre and Delhi government to file affidavits by Tuesday disclosing hospital-wise availability of beds for COVID-19 patients here.
‘Continue oxygen supply’
The court also directed the firm Inox, which used to supply oxygen to Delhi hospitals, to honour its contract and continue the supply immediately.
The HC’s direction came after it was told that the firm had stopped oxygen supply to Delhi.
The court observed that both the Centre and Delhi government “failed miserably” on the migrant crisis in last year’s lockdown and lessons are required to be learnt from it.
The Bench said it has been seeing reports about migrant labourers going back. With imposition of curfew, these daily wagers are again faced with a grim reality, the Bench added.
It directed the Delhi government to utilise funds from the Building and other Construction Workers Act to provide food to daily wagers at their work sites and to utilise the service of contractors who used to prepare mid-day meals in schools. The court remarked that the migrant workers were left on their own or to good Samaritans.
In view of the recent resurgence of COVID-19 cases, the court revived a disposed of PIL related to COVID-19 testing and infrastructure. The court remarked that the virus has raised its “ugly head” once again and the pandemic is raging with much greater intensity.
