Uttarakhand HC Directs The State Govrnment To Increase Daily Covid-19 Testing To At Least 50k Per Day Concerning Kumbh Mela 2021

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday, 31st March, issued directions to State Government in regards with upcoming Kumbh Mela in Haridwar and Hrishikesh.
• Due to the fact that a huge population is going to visit the holy cities, the bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma has directed to increase Covid-19 testing to at least 50,000 per day.
• The court has further directed to upgrade the basic equipments in hospitals in order to meet the requisite facilities to deal with the current status Covid-19 spread.

FURHTER DETAILS

• The court in its order observed that almost all the pilgrims would be taking bath in the holy Ganges. To prevent drowning, the court directed the state to deploy sufficient number of Jal Police.
• Enough night shelters should be constructed and shall include the necessary facilities of drinking water, mobile washrooms and urinals.
• The court further clarified that those who have taken their first dose of covid-19 vaccine are certified to be covid-19 negative and allowed to visit Kumbh Mela.
• Those who are to take their second or even first dose of vaccine at Kumbh shall be encouraged and proper preparations should be done to observe them in case anyone faces side effects of vaccine.
• The court observed that “organizing of Maha Kumbh Mela is a gargantuan logistical problem” and thus, both Municipal corporation and mela authorities have to be prepared in order to tackle a huge population ranging from ten lakhs to fifty lakhs on the special days.

CONCLUSION

• The court thus observed that “even the Central Government is deeply concerned about the possibility of the spread of COVID19, it is imperative that the State Government must work overtime to ensure that COVID-19 does not start spreading its wings from Haridwar and Rishikesh area”. Thus, the bench directed the S.O.Ps issued by the government shall be strictly adhered to.
• Directing to increase the daily testing to at least 50,000 per day the court stated “Until and unless a larger section of the population is tested for the presence of COVID-19 virus, it would be impossible to detect the spread of the disease through a large population”.
• A report has to submitted before the court on April 13th regarding the steps taken by the government in order to solve the issues that have been pointed out.

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