The Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan has given directions to all the states, to carry out a fire safety audit of all the hospitals that are dedicated to the Covid-19 patients across the country, so that the incident of Rajkot, Gujarat can be avoided.
The Bench, comprising of RS Reddy and MR Shah also directed the Dedicated Covid-19 hospitals across the country to take a No- Objection Certificate from the Fire Department within the next four weeks and if the direction was not followed up strictly then Punitive Actions will be taken against those hospitals.
The Direction of the Apex court is not only for the Covid-19 Dedicated Hospitals but also for all those hospitals which have their fire No- Objection Certificate (NOC) expired, or for all those with no fire NOCs.
The Apex Court said that all those whose Fire NOC has expired, they will have to get it renewed within the next four week and action can be taken if failed to do so within the stipulated time.
The Bench said,
“The (dedicated COVID-19) hospitals which have not gone for the renewal for fire NOC should get it renewed within four weeks and action be taken if the renewal has not been obtained.”
“The hospitals which have not taken fire NOC should immediately go for it”, the bench added.
Along with it, the court also directed the states to strictly follow the Covid-19 guidelines issued by the Competent Authority from wearing masks to social distancing and the standard operating procedures. The apex court also said that the observance of the Covid-19 guidelines in the political rallies will be taken care of by the Election Commissions.
Further, the states were asked to appoint a nodal officer to ensure that there is no repeat of fire incidents in hospitals that had taken place in Rajkot and Ahmedabad and which have taken many lives.
The Supreme Court on 15th December asked the centre to grant breaks to doctors who are continuously engaged in treating the Covid-19 patients for the last seven-eight months, it said that continuous work can affect their health.
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