SYNOPSIS
That the present application has been preferred by the Applicant seeking intervention in the Writ Petition bearing W.P (Civil) No. of 2020 pending before this Hon’ble Court. That the applicant is a conscientiousness and a responsible citizen who is worried about the health of his fellow citizens. Since the outbreak of the disease called the Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the Applicant has been worried about the preparedness of the Government of India in tackling the spread of the disease and seeks the intervention of the court to act as sentinel of the citizens of this country and ensure that the Government is prepared not just for the said outbreak but also for any future outbreak of pandemics.
That the applicant has been an avid newspaper reader and has gained the knowledge regarding the said pandemic through various newspaper articles published in Dainik Bhaskar, Dainik Jagran, Amar Ujala etc. That after reading several reports in newspapers, the Applicant is agonised by the fact that the number of laboratory reported cases of the said disease has increased from 80 on 14.08.2020 to 137 on 17.03.2020. That the sudden surge in cases of COVID-19 has worried the Applicant and therefore he has moved the said application to ensure that whole of India is prepared to tackle the said pandemic. It also worries the Applicant that both National Institute of Virology and National Centre for Disease Control work within a very limited sphere and have restricted powers. It also worries the Applicant that the primary function of the said institutions is to to assist the states, when required, in the investigation of the outbreaks of epidemic prone diseases and conduct research as well as publish guidelines and precautionary measures to be taken. However the said institutions neither have the requisite powers nor the resources to implement its paramount duty of assisting the state in preventing the sudden outbreak of pandemic diseases like the current one.
The Applicant is also worried about the conditions of patients in the dedicated cordon sanitaire which are in debilitating condition. It has also come to the knowledge of the Applicant, through reports in various national dailies that the dedicated isolation wards for COVID-19 are in very bad conditions. The Applicant is also worried by the fact that the isolation wards in India for the symptomatic patients under observation and isolation are not fit for long term use. The sight of such isolation facilities and unhygienic condition of the toilets in the said facilities will make any patient retch and therefore several cases of patients running away from isolation wards have been reported.
That according to a WHO report 80% of laboratory confirmed cases have had mild or moderate disease and recover. However when such patients with mild or moderate symptoms are exposed to patients with severe symptoms of the disease, due to the highly contagious nature (4>R0 >1.4) of the disease, the former patient is more prone to be diagnosed with severe symptoms. The Applicant is worried about the R0 value of the disease because if R0 is less than 1, the disease will typically die out: Each infected person has a low chance of passing the infection along to even one additional individual. An R0 larger than 1 means each sick person infects at least one other person on average, who then could infect others, until the disease spreads through the population. For instance, a typical seasonal flu strain has an R0 of around 1.2, which means for every five infected people, the disease will spread to six new people on average, who pass it along to others.
That no large scale examination drive has been conducted for the inmates of various prison across the country and this increases the chance of inmates being highly prone to the said contagious disease. That it has also come to the notice of the Applicant that there have been reports of amplified transmission when prisoners are kept in close vicinity and in over crowded places.
According to several media reports there has been a shortage of proper safety gears in various states to deal with the highly contagious disease and in lieu of this the medical practitioners are at high risk. The Tamil Nadu Medical Students’ Association have also put forth concerns regarding shortage of masks, sanitisers as well as other safety equipments. They also raised concerns regarding no measures being taken to ensure the safety of medical students. The Applicant has also noticed several reports in which police personnel have been seen carrying infected patients without safety gears and thus exposing themselves to the said disease and ultimately affecting the general public. Such an action not only puts the infected person at risk, but also those who come in contact with them.
That due to the high demand of sanitisers and masks, reports of fake hand sanitiser and mask factory have also cropped up which is a very serious
That it also worries the Applicant that the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) does not contain clear executive instructions, the Act is more or less like a guidance document. It does not mention any scientific steps that the government needs to take to contain or prevent the spread of disease. The Act is also silent on the ethical aspects or human rights principles that come into play during the response to an epidemic. Thus there is an urgent need to review the said enactment and enact a fresh legislation with comprehensive provisions for the containment of diseases such as the present one.