AP High Court directive to State government sought

Amaravati: A request has been made to AP High Court seeking a direction to the State government to provide personal protection equipment (PPEs) and other protective tools to the medical fraternity engaged in combating the COVID-19.

All the medical staff, who are on the frontline, including doctors, nurses, lab technicians, paramedical staff, sanitary workers and others in both the government and private sector, are forced to work without PPEs, said petitioner Narra Srinivasa Rao, General Secretary of All India Lawyers Union (AILU), Andhra Pradesh State unit.

He requested the Chief Justice on Saturday to direct the government to procure sufficient PPEs, N-90 and N-95 masks, ventilators, testing kits and other medical required tools.

As the lockdown is in force, he sent a mail to the High Court and urged it to consider the mail as PIL, treating it as the most important issue, according to Srinivasa Rao.

Providing inadequate protective tools is nothing but forcing the medical staff to work under life-threatening conditions, he observed.

Srinivasa Rao explained to the court that, "There are no PPEs available at present with the Government of AP. They are very essential to the doctors, paramedical staff, nurses and other sanitary workers who have to work at this critical stage. There are no sufficient N-90 or N-95 masks available."

The State government enforced the Disaster Management Act 2005, Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 and EssentialServices Maintenance Act,1971 to mitigate the circumstance.

Now, both government and private medical infrastructure in the State comes under the preview of ESMA, he added.

Stating that, it is a welcoming gesture and the medical staff is expressing its willingness to serve.

The government has to assure them by providing sufficient protection tools, he added.