We will pass an order and grant you further time to file status report on Remdesivir, testing, hospital beds etc: Court to AG.Testing is a very important aspect. Govt can tie up with small labs and aid them to set up testing facilities: Court.Needless to say that government officials have been doing their best. Counsel are only trying to urge them to do better: Court.Contrary to what AG is saying, testing is not happening. When people reach hospitals, there are no beds: Yagnik.Lakhs and lakhs of people are watching this and looking to the Court to deliver: Yagnik.Hearing has been going for two hours. In this time, I have tried calling laboratories for RT-PCR, but received no response. Yagnik .Portal for entire State showing number of beds, ICU beds, ventilators is needed: Pandya.Portal is being maintained by association of hospitals in Ahmedabad: AG Trivedi .You must take the data under your control and provide accurate information. You cannot leave it to the association: CJ Nath.Advocate Chetan Pandya: We do not know which hospitals have which COVID facilities. For my father's case, I had no clue as to where to go..The portal of the State does not provide real-time figures. It may show there is availability, but when you go to a hospital you will find otherwise: CJ Nath.No testing facilities in tribal areas of Gujarat. There is a need for Remdesivir in rural areas. There is a massive migration happening from urban to rural areas: Yagnik.Extreme shortage of pulmonologists in primary health centres in rural areas. All that is being said by the State pertains to data from the cities: Yagnik.Advocate Anand Yagnik requests RT-PCR facilities in every district taluka. 11 district judges out of 33 have said that except in big cities of Gujarat, there is no RT-PCR. But govt is saying every district has it..Facilities are absolutely insufficient in the face of the tsunami of cases we are facing: Yagnik.Advocate Amit Panchal makes brief submissions. There must be transparency on availability of hospital beds and numbers regarding RT-PCR tests..Six districts do not have RT-PCR testing facilities: Panchal.Tendency to be safe is inherent in Indian people. This is why they are hoarding Remdesivir, and going to hospitals even when they are asymptomatic: Kavina.State has to be clear in messaging. You cannot force restaurants to shut but allow scores of people into ghats: Kavina.Measures for treatment must be clearly laid out. Quackery methods must be condemned for what they are. Government must say that Ayurveda etc do not help: Kavina.Kavina appears for Gujarat High Court Advocates Association. We wish to audit the government's response and temper them, the Senior says.It is our job to present before the Court our analysis of the State's actions. We will continue to monitor what the State says on Remdesivir, beds, oxygen etc and report to the Court.Senior Advocate Percy Kavina, appearing for an applicant, makes submissions before the Court. Explains purpose of application..Vital role of government is to do confidence building and with transparency. If the government's words were a little more credible, they would be believed: Kavina.Court asks ASG Devang Vyas, appearing for Centre, to ensure more oxygen cylinders are provided to the State..Justice Karia asks medical expert why RT-PCR is preferred over TrueNat test.ICMR has approved both to be on par. I will try to get more information: AG Trivedi.[On CT scans] When RT-PCR returns negative test and patient has symptoms, doctors recommend CT Scan and later, RT-PCR shows positive: AG Trivedi.CT Scan lines are getting longer. Start thinking on those lines, nobody knows how long this COVID will go on. Get CT Scan facilities in hospitals: Court.High Court has an academy and an auditorium in which people from our fraternity can be accommodated. State will have to take care of the food: CJ Nath. .That can be taken care of: AG Trivedi.A lot of families live in small accommodation. If two test positive, what happens to the others? If parents test positive, who will take care of children? Is there any arrangement for family members? Court asks.Discharges were taking too much time, so hospital beds took time to become vacant. We have changed the policy to make the process faster: AG Trivedi .Nobody should be kept waiting in ambulances for hours together: Court.[On why 108 ambulances were lined up outside hospitals] Ambulances reached hospitals without being allocated where to go: AG Trivedi.Information is coming from authentic sources. You must wake up their conscience not to do this: Court.Hospitals are not admitting patients who need oxygen...I fail to understand why people even at this time are looking to make a fast buck. Even oxygen is being black-marketed: CJ Nath.They are increasing production, but there is a cycle. If everyone behaves sensibly on usage of Remdesivir, we have enough: AG Trivedi.Fact that only 1 lakh vials of Remdesivir were being produced for entire country cannot be lost sight of: AG Trivedi.Figures given by State are not matching with the actual number of positive cases: Court.Doctors are administering in indiscriminately. Within a week's time this issue will be a thing of the past: AG Trivedi.Do you mean to say that the hype behind Remdesivir is being created by doctors? Justice Karia asks.Do you have an idea of what is the requirement of Remdesivir? Court asks .For cases in which it is required, we have sufficient stock: AG Trivedi .Say on affidavit that there is enough stock for anyone who needs it on medical advice: Court.You should advise doctors not to prescribe the drug unless it is required: Court.The Centre was confronted that Remdesivir injection has some effect. But it could not cover it under the Drug Control Act before clinical trials were conducted: AG Trivedi.If consumption goes beyond 1100 metric tonnes, we are looking at options to get it from other states: AG Trivedi.100% of oxygen production in four districts reserved for healthcare sector. 482 metric tonnes will be used only for hospitals: AG Trivedi.Oxygen requirement has increased 14 times. At one point, 80% of oxygen was going to industrial sector. We have passed an order saying that entire supply should go to healthcare sector: AG Trivedi.Court asks about dedicated area for patients who don't need emergency treatment. AG Trivedi says that such facility is available.Numbers should reflect the situation in the entire State, not just Ahmedabad. Today, smaller districts are doing much worse: CJ Nath.[On availability of beds] Over 71,000 beds are available: AG Trivedi. .We have a doubt on the figures showing that only 53% beds are occupied. When people are saying there are no beds, how can this figure be correct? CJ Nath.Anand has facility for TrueNat test: AG Trivedi .Nobody goes for TrueNat test: Justice Karia.I am told it is as good as RT-PCR: AG Trivedi.Except in Dang district, there is an RT-PCR lab in every district: AG Trivedi. .I am told Anand district doesn't have one: CJ Nath.Over 1 crore tests have been conducted. Positivity rate has remained below 3%: AG Trivedi.Antigen tests started at all primary health centres and wellness centres: AG Trivedi .What about RT-PCR? CJ Nath asks.Affidavit lacks information on whether there is a lab for RT-PCR testing in each and every taluka and district of the State: Court .Except one, all districts have at least one facility: AG Trivedi.Are you setting up sites for RT-PCR tests on the roadside? Court asks .Those are for antigen tests: AG Trivedi.It is a good move, Court says. .We have requested labs to hire more staff to collect samples from people's homes. Earlier, it used to take 3-4 days. Today they are testing 8,000-12,000 samples per day: AG Trivedi.AG Trivedi on testing: Yesterday, we put a new system in place. Performed more than 2,000 tests; results were given in 10-24 hours..Court goes through affidavit filed by State of Gujarat..It has benefited so many who have hoarded the medicine and sold it at a higher price. Price is 900, they are selling at 14,000-15,000. Who is benefitting from this? CJ Nath asks.We have asked Centre to stabilise price of Remdesivir to prevent price fluctuations. At Gujarat's request, Centre has stopped export of it: AG Trivedi.We are very serious. Entire machinery is focusing on nothing but COVID-19: AG Trivedi.[On availability of Remdesivir] We want State to explain what it is, and when, where, and to whom it should be given. I don't know whether it is a live-saving drug. It has unnecessarily been seen as an 'Amrit': Court.Our intention is not bad: AG Trivedi .Nobody is saying you are to blame for the tsunami of cases. Press is only saying that State should have been more prepared: CJ Nath.Apart from govt, labs took it for granted and decreased staff and reduced production of Remdesivir. We are trying to fight the war together: AG Trivedi.The PIL gave us a push to be ready for the second wave: AG Trivedi.Court charts the rise of cases in the State over the past years. It has gone up to 7,410 cases a day. Not that the State was sleeping, but little more should have been done: CJ Nath.Our suggestions have not been implemented seriously. People are taking it too lightly: Chief Justice Vikram Nath.Court brings up February 2020 order in which it had given suggestions. Court had suggested increased testing, arranging for more hospital beds, maintaining social distancing and wearing of masks, etc.A Gujarat High Court Bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Bhargav D Karia is hearing a suo motu case on the worsening COVID-19 situation in Gujarat..The Court had registered the suo motu case based on multiple media reports..During the last hearing, the Bench had remarked that it was not happy with certain policies of the government while adding that it had no doubt that the State was doing its best..The State was also directed to file its reply by April 14.
