J&K HC directs authorities to ensure enforcement of govt orders to curb COVID-19 spread

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court directed the authorities to enforce government notifications/instructions/orders regarding all disclosures including travel history, quarantining and isolation stringently and also take severe measures to ensure that all requirements are strictly enforced to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Hearing a PIL through video-conferencing from Srinagar, Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Sindhu Sharma in its order said that judicial notice can be taken of the several complaints being made in the electronic and the print media with regard to persons who are hiding their foreign travel history in order to escape the mandatory quarantine, even though they are required to divulge their travel history.

“Some of such persons have been found to be infected and huge public resources have been expended on tracking not only these persons but their several contacts during the period up to their detection,” the order read.

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HC directs BSNL to operationalize video-conferencing facilities in courts

The High Court has also directed BSNL to ensure that every effort is made to operationalize the video-conferencing facilities in all the courts within the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir as well as Ladakh at the earliest possible. The court directed the Secretary PHE to look into the water supply roster and ensure equitable distribution of water to all residents of the Union Territory of J&K. A similar examination may be undertaken in the Union Territory of Ladakh as well for maintaining proper hygiene, the order read.

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The Department of Social Welfare was directed to ensure that best possible care is given to Old Age Homes, Bal Ashrams, Orphanages, Observation Homes, Nari Niketans, Blind schools and other such institutions. Pertinently, two persons who tested positive for coronavirus have recovered and were released from the hospital in the Union Territory of Ladakh, where no fresh case was reported during the past five days.

Commissioner Secretary (Health) Rigzin Samphel, however, said both the cured patients have been moved to a quarantine facility and will remain under surveillance. “Technically, now we have only 11 COVID-19 positive cases from the earlier 13 cases because two of them have tested negative and accordingly shifted from the isolation ward of the hospital to a quarantine facility. They will remain under surveillance,” Samphel told reporters in Leh. He said the condition of the rest of the 11 patients is stable.
The test reports of 18 samples - 15 from Kargil and three from Leh -- were received from Delhi and all of these were negative, he said.

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