Telangana: Ensure adequate supply of PPEs, masks to medical staff: HC to govt

Telangana High Court on Tuesday directed all government to provide PPEs and N-95 masks to medical staff deployed for treating Covid-19 patients.

A division bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A Abhishek Reddy directed the medical Superintendents of all the government hospitals in the State to file individual affidavits furnishing the data on providing the sufficient number of Personal Protective Kits, N-95 masks, surgical masks etc., to its medical teams deputed in their hospitals treating Covid-19 patients and such other patients with other ailments.

The bench while referring to an incident which occurred in Nilofer Hospital in Hyderabad wherein a two-year-old patient was abandoned by the medical team, once it came to light that the patient was a Covid-19 patient and later the entire medical team which dealt with the patient went into quarantine. CJ Raghavendra Singh Chauhan said, " it is the foremost duty of the government to protect the medical staff who are tirelessly working in the hospitals against the menace of coronavirus.

It is they who are protecting the lives of the people. Hence, every endeavour should be made by the State government to ensure that surgical masks and PPEs are made available to those who are working in the hospitals. Advocate General B.S. Prasad informed the bench that the Telangana government has provided sufficient PPEs, N-95 Masks and surgical masks to all the medical staff deputed at various government hospitals in the State. The case adjourned to 6th May 2020.