[COVID-19] Absurd that face masks are mandatory for those driving alone: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday observed that the Delhi government's order making face masks mandatory for those travelling alone in cars was "absurd," and questioned the State as to why the same was still prevailing [Rakesh Malhotra & Ors v. GNCTD]..A Division Bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh made the observation during the hearing of a plea highlighting various issues concerning the COVID-19 crisis..During the hearing, Senior Advocate Rahul Mehra, appearing for the Delhi government asked,"Can we have an order against wearing masks in the cars?"The Court reminded Mehra that the order to wear masks in cars was issued by the Delhi government, and could only be withdrawn by it. It thus directed him to take instructions on this aspect."We hope and expect the DDMA to look into all aspects and issue fresh orders with regards to instructions," the Court said..It is pertinent to note that the High Court itself in an order passed in April 2021 had ruled that wearing of a mask in a vehicle is compulsory during the COVID-19 pandemic even if it is occupied only by its driver and has no other occupants."Wearing of a mask of a face cover in a vehicle, which may be occupied by either a single person or multiple persons, is... compulsory in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic," the order passed by Justice Prathiba M Singh stated..The Bench also took note of the Delhi government's submissions that the COVID-19 situation was much better than before. It noted in its order,"We are happy to know of the progress made at practically all of the fronts which needed to be addressed. However, there are still some issues with the website of the Delhi government, delhifightscorona.in. The same needs to be updated with regards to timely information on availability of EWS COVID beds, in both Hindi and English. The end result should be to place information in the public domain and provide ease of access and vigilance with respect to all health institutions.".The Court asked the government to explore the possibility of setting up a mobile application so that people can have an idea of the specialities nearby hospitals are offering. Information on bed availability and medical services such as ambulances should be available on the app, it was suggested."Counsel for Delhi government has submitted that it will examine the feasibility of developing such an application in the future. The status report also indicates that the data in statistics, available with the GNCTD, will be regularly uploaded to the Ministry of Family and Health Welfare portal. This exercise should continue even after the pandemic is abated," the Court said in its order..With regard to the Delhi Disaster Response Fund (DDRF) scheme, under which ₹50,000 was to be provided to victims of the COVID-19 pandemic by the Delhi government as an ex gratia amount, the Court was informed that families of the deceased had started sending applications for consideration."Out of this 18-56 applications have been rejected. At the same time, around 10,347 have been approved by us. Rendering of financial assistance started from May 9, 2022," Advocate Satyakam submitted on behalf of the Delhi government.The Court asked the Delhi government to provide reasons for the long gap between the announcement and implementation of the financial assistance measures.The matter will be next heard on April 4..Of sugary tea and kachoris for breakfast.Appearing as amicus curiae in the matter, Senior Advocate Rajshekhar Rao apprised the Court of a recent letter he had received from a man who was forcibly taken to a COVID-19 healthcare facility in Chattarpur without being informed of the same. Rao added that the letter spoke of the conditions at the facility."We have international travellers being put up in places like this. The letter mentioned that the site lacked facilities like doctors and basic medicines also. Moreover, the patients were served sugar in their tea and Kachoris for breakfast, with scant regard for health concerns of the patients.".[COVID-19 vaccine] Necessity of booster dose yet to be decided: Centre tells Delhi High Court