[COVID-19] State to ensure that Nagpur gets 10,000 Remdesivir vials by 8 pm today: Bombay High Court issues fresh directions

The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court on Monday issued fresh directions in the suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on issues pertaining to COVID-19 management in the city..The Bench of Justices Sunil B Shukre and SM Modak directed the State government to release for the time being about 10,000 vials of Remdesivir, the drug used to mitigate COVID-19 complications, to COVID hospitals in the district of Nagpur by 8 pm today..It also directed the Nagpur Municipal Corporation to grant requisite permissions to interested private hospitals to set up their own oxygen generation units in order to tackle the issue of dearth of oxygen cylinders in hospitals..The Bench also directed the District Collector to ensure that medical facility buildings which are not being utilised even though they were completely ready for giving healthcare facilities to COVID patients, are verified and given requisite permissions to function by this evening..By virtue of the State-imposed curfew, delivery of food was not permitted beyond 8 pm. Now, the Court has asked that the same be extended till the hour of night permissible under the Shops and Establishments Act, considering delivery of food was an essential service..The Bench was informed by counsel appearing before it that the Remdesivir vial distribution was very poor in Nagpur district as compared to Thane district. It also noted from a meeting held with the top functionaries managing the pandemic in Nagpur that the allocation of Remdesivir is being done district-wise by a State-level committee, and that the vials that are distributed differ in each district. .The judges opined that there was arbitrariness in the allocation of Remdesivir vials and that this practice requires to be stopped forthwith. "We do not understand logic of 5,328 vials against 2,855 COVID beds in Thane district and the release of 3,326 vials as against 8,250 in Nagpur district. This disparity in allocation of Remdesivir vials has occurred because there is a not so rational distribution of the vials amongst various districts of state level committee," the Court stated..The Court was informed that there was no vial distribution on April 17, and very short supply on April 18. Further, "in some cases possibility could not be ruled out of mortality due to non availability of Remdesivir drugs"..Regarding the dearth of oxygen supply, the Court deduced that the issue arose because the production capacity itself was falling short to meet the demands and hence the long term solution would lie in increasing the production capacity of oxygen..After directing the State government and District Collector to grant all necessary permissions for setting up oxygen generation units, the Court also directed the authorities to consider any applications for additional space required for setting up units upon payment of necessary market value..It was also directed that if hospitals are interested in setting up smaller plants with air circulation technology, necessary permissions may be granted. If the hospitals want to order concentrators which are available online, then permission to procure those was also to be granted without any delay..The Court was also informed that despite orders for requisitioning services of medial and paramedical staff for effective management, the same were not being complied with, thereby affecting the quality of healthcare being provided in Nagpur..The Court issued a warning to the "reluctant service providers" that if they do not comply with these orders, they would be failing in their constitutional obligation and inviting coercive action against them..The State and Central governments were called upon to submit the parameters which were being followed while distributing Remdesivir vials to different districts and the requirement requests of each State..The Court also clarified that once the collector of Nagpur receives the vials as directed by the Court, there shall be a fair and equitable distribution among all hospitals and their in-house pharmacies. .The matter has been adjourned for further hearing on April 21.[Read order here]