Doctor moves Supreme Court on quarantine for health staff

New Delhi: A doctor has questioned in the Supreme Court the Centre's new Standard Operating Procedure for front line COVID-19 healthcare workers by which it has ended the 14-day mandatory quarantine for them. A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, SK Kaul and MR Shah took the affidavit filed by doctor Arushi Jain in her pending petition on record and gave time to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, to file the reply by next week.

The affidavit, filed through advocate Mithu Jain and Arjun Syal, said that on May 15 the Directorate General of Health Services, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has issued an "advisory for managing healthcare workers working in COVID and Non-COVID areas of the hospital' providing guidance on preventive measures, isolation and quarantine of health care functionaries.

The affidavit said: "According to the advisory, a SOP has been advised for health workforce deployment during COVID-19. It is to be noted that the said advisory has ended the 14-day mandatory quarantine for all health workers.

"The advisory prescribes SOP including quarantine and accommodation facility to be provided to health care workers only in case of high exposure to COVID-19 and in cases of health care workers showing symptoms of COVID-19.'

The affidavit said that several doctors association have written to the Centre and opposed the advisory issued by DGHS. On May 15, the top court had asked the Centre to apprise it about steps taken for quarantining doctors and medical staff engaged in fight against coronavirus in accommodations near the hospitals itself.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for doctor-petitioner Arushi Jain, had said that resident doctors in government hospitals, after completing 7/14 days on duty, are supposed to be quarantined.