A PIL has been filed in Supreme Court which seeks directions to Centre Government for collection of samples and testing of all asymptomatic persons in cities or district affected with Coronavirus.

The petiton suggests using pooling methods for samples in order to increase number of tests.

The petition also seeks direction to speed up process of testing either via provision of mobile testing facilities door to door sample collection in order to ensure widespread accessibility of testing facilities.

The petitioner pleads for the data of tests conducted to be made available online.

STRATEGY SUGGESTIONS

The plea suggests how the strategy should be laid down to make the move a success. It tells that 

*Areas covered for testing can be divided in two categories:- Symptomatic and Asymptomatic

*Necessary details such as areas covered, number of persons tested, whether the person tested was symptomatic or asymptomatic etc. should be collected and well maintained.

The Petitioner referred to the statement of Health Minister which stated that WHO has declared this outbreak as a “public health emergency of International Concern” and raised level of global risk to “very high” on 28.02.2020.

WHO has asked countries to remain prepared and India started its preparations from 17.01.2020.

The Petition further refers to many articles published in various news reports and stateD that the source of the facts presented before the Court in the present case has been obtained through media such as newspaper reports and reportable precedents of this Hon’ble Court.

The Petitioner mentioned that some of the people that are being represented in the present PIL may not be aware of their legal rights being infringed and may not have the economic means to approach the Court in order to protect the same and thus it is unjust to them.

The petitioner reminded the Supreme Court that it is empowered under Article 142 of the Constitution of India, to pass any order or decree as is necessary for doing complete justice for any cause or matter pending before it.

The Petition emphasised;

“the Court is the watchword of the Constitution of India which enshrines the Right to Life under Article 21 and also encompasses the Right to Safety and Safe Environment under the same article. Furthermore, the Directive Principles of the State under Article 47 of the Constitution imbibes the Duty of the State to improve public health.”

The petitioner further highlighted that the symptoms shown by people who have contracted COVID-19 are very basic in nature such as cold, cough, fever, headache; and thus can go undetected without adequate screening and other preventive measures.

He alarmed that the disease is especially known to spread through person-to-person contact and the virus is known to survive for a number of hours on surfaces as well which makes the situation dangerous.

The petitioner referred to the Supreme Court ruling in the matter of State of Punjab & Ors. v. Mohinder Singh Chawla., (1997) 2 SCC 83 in which it held:

“‘Right to Health’ is integral to right to life. Government has constitutional obligation to provide the health facilities.“

The Petitioner urged the Court to intervene in this present situation and safeguard the rights and interests of the citizens.

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