A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Wednesday observed that the police need to ensure that the life of COVID warriors was sufficiently protected against attack from unscrupulous elements.
The Bench comprising Justice Devan Ramachandran and Justice Kauser Edappagath made the observation in the context of a nursing assistant being attacked in Haripad recently by some anti-social elements on her return home.
The court observed that it was pained at the incident. It could not be regarded as an isolated incident. When it came to the COVID warriors and their services, society owned a duty to ensure that they were protected from the unscrupulous elements lurking in the dark to pounce on them. Obviously, the police need to pull up their socks and ensure that the life of all such warriors were sufficiently protected.
The court made the observations when a revision petition by the Private Hospitals Association against the charges fixed for COVID treatment in private hospitals came up for hearing. The court was prima facie of the view that the treatment during the 30 days after a patient turned negative should be reckoned as COVID treatment.
The court asked the State government to clarify why a separate order on post-COVID treatment charges was issued, especially when the deaths occurring 30 days after a patient tested negative were treated as COVID death. On the parity of reasons, the treatment of a patient during the same period after he/she turned negative should be reckoned as COVID treatment.
Senior government pleader S. Kannan submitted that the government had issued an order fixing rates for treatment of post-COVID syndrome, multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children and adults, and COVID associated mucormycosis (CAM)/COVID Associated Pulmonary Aspergillosis (CAPA) to streamline the rates of post-COVID treatment.
Patients in the above poverty line (APL) category have to bear the cost of treatment. The government through the order ensured that the private hospitals did not charge exorbitant rates for treatment from APL category patients. The treatment for COVID complications was free to all BPL, KASP and KBF beneficiaries in government hospitals.
