Delhi HC asks petitioner to submit suggestions on protection for health workers amid COVID-19
Jul 03, 2020
New Delhi [India], July 3 : The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked a petitioner to submit suggestions regarding the issues related to the protection required to be provided to the nurses and paramedical professionals - health workers in all nursing homes in Delhi including the private nursing homes, in wake of handling COVID-19 infection cases.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan listed the petition filed by an NGO Distress Management Collective for July 6.
The court said that these suggestions should be submitted by the counsel for the petitioner before the next date of hearing and also granted time to Union of India to file a short affidavit.
NGO Distress Management Collective counsel has submitted that for equal risk, there should be equal protection. NGO counsel has contended that the safeguards being taken for healthcare workers who are treating COVID-19 patients are also required to be made available to other healthcare professionals and related staff who are working in hospitals.
The court was hearing NGO Distress Management Collective petition seeking to cover insurance protection of all the private sector nurses under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package and to provide them with proper psycho-social support. The NGO has alleged that nurses in private hospitals were not being provided with proper protective equipment.
The petitioner has blamed the Centre and the Delhi government for showing a "discriminatory approach" towards nurses in private hospitals and nursing homes as compared to staff working in government hospitals. The petitioner has also said that private hospitals are not exercising basic precautions for the safety and security of their healthcare workers.
