[COVID-19 surge] What is State doing to check the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases? Gujarat High Court questions government

Pursuant to taking suo motu notice of the surge in COVID-19 cases in the State, the Gujarat High Court on Monday posed a number of questions to the State government..In its order, the Court sought a reply on affidavit from the State government on Advocate General (AG) Kamal Trivedi's submissions calling into question the news reports based on which the Court had taken suo motu cognizance..The reply, the Court said, must also contain the steps taken by the State government to contain the spread of COVID-19..At the outset, the Bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Bhargav Karia appealed to the press to report matters accurately. CJ Nath pointed to instances of reports stating that the High Court had called for a lockdown in the State, when no such direction was made..AG Trivedi made submissions on three aspects: the scarcity of COVID-19 treatment drug Remdesivir, the issues of testing and availability of hospital beds, and the supply of oxygen in hospitals..Then AG highlighted the efforts made by the government on all three aspects and took objection to press reports depicting the healthcare system in the State in poor light."We sincerely feel that things are under control. There is no reason for people to go into fear psychosis," AG Trivedi said..Calling for responsibility on the part of press when it comes to reporting such issues, the AG said that only the negative facts are highlighted, while the positive ones are not."What we find in bold lines is people standing in queues for injections.".After hearing the AG's submissions, CJ Nath said,"After hearing you, we are mesmerized and feel that we have unnecessarily taken cognizance, but the situation is quite grim.".The Bench proceeded to point out the failure of the State government to be prepared for second and third waves of the virus. While doing so, it pointed out inadequate testing facilities, unavailability of hospital beds, and the fact that there was enough supply of Remdesivir.When AG Trivedi argued that the total production of the drug in the country was very low, the Bench advised,"We are told there is adequate supply of Remdesivir in Gujarat. Do not follow only what you have been briefed, you are an officer of the Court first...".Pointing to a breach in communication between the government and the people, Justice Karia said,"Unless the chain is not broken, this will never come to an end. Earlier, people were afraid of moving outdoors, now they have become careless.".CJ Nath added that the Bench is not satisfied by certain government policies. "We are not happy with certain policies of the government. No doubt it is doing its best, but some things need to be corrected.".On the accuracy of the news reports pointing to a sorry state of affairs in Gujarat, CJ Nath said,"I believe that these newspapers would not publish reports with no basis. We assume them to be correct.".The State government was also asked to take into consideration suggestions made by the Gujarat High Court Advocates Association and another advocate..The Court proceeded to adjourn the matter to Thursday, April 15. The State government is expected to give its response to the Court's queries by April 14..On Sunday, April 11, the High Court took suo motu cognizance of the spike in COVID-19 cases in the State along with the shortage in testing facilities, beds and medical infrastructure to deal with the same..Chief Justice Vikram Nath said that media reports indicated that the State is heading towards a health emergency and passed an order in this regard. In this regard, reliance was placed on articles that appeared in Indian Express and Times of India..[Read Order].[Read a detailed account of today's hearing]