COVID-19: Bombay HC asks BMC to furnish details about PPE kits

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to respond to a PIL seeking PPE kits for frontline health workers and limiting the use of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 treatment.

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A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice A A Sayyed directed the BMC to file an affidavit by Wednesday, detailing the number of PPE kits it had already provided, apart from other health and security measures taken to protect doctors, health workers, civic employees etc.

The court also directed the civic body to respond to all other contentions raised in the PIL, including the accessibility of screening tests for frontline workers and for the poor.

The PIL by Jan Swasthya Abhiyan also claimed that there weren't enough healthcare professionals and frontline workers in hospitals and facilities at some quarantine centres were inadequate.

The petitioner's counsel Mihir Desai said doctors and medical staff who were not treating COVID-19 patients also needed PPE kits.

Meanwhile, the BMC's counsel senior advocate Anil Sakhre argued that the state was providing as many PPEs as possible and each kit costs Rs 2,200 per day for each person per shift.

"We are trying to increase the production of PPEs, but until then, it is not feasible to provide PPEs to doctors or staff who were not treating coronavirus patients," Sakhre said.

The petitioner has also urged the authorities not to use hydroxychloroquine indiscrimnately, as there was not enough clinical evidence to show it effectively treats the infection, he said.

The court will take up the matter for further hearing on May 15.