“Prepare for the Worst”

Even as courts are pulling up governments for dereliction of duty during these tumultuous times, they are laying the groundwork for future course of action and the third wave which will affect children

- Abhilash Kumar Singh

TILL date, the Supreme Court and various High Courts had expressed their concerns over the deteriorating Covid-19 situation in the country. But now courts are also looking ahead and trying to instill some planning in governments.

The apex court recently asked the centre to prepare for the third wave as the latter submitted a plan for allocating oxygen to states on the basis of beds. The Court said that it requires a complete revamp and asked the centre for a plan for logistics. It said that the third wave of the pandemic was round the corner and it was time to start preparing for it. “Third-wave comes how will you deal with it? Scientists saying children will be affected and they can go into hospitals and have to be accompanied by mother or father,” the Court said. “Prepare today to handle stage 3 of Covid. Children may be affected during the third wave, ensure vaccination of children. Bolster your infrastructure to deal with the third wave, rope in NEET aspirants and nurses,” the Court said.

Experts have warned that the third wave is due between October and Dec - ember and will hit children in a big way. They have urged both the centre and state governments to chalk out strategies and gear up to handle the situation. The Court urged the Centre to deploy doctors who had completed their internships to deal with the crisis.

The Madras High Court too gave orders on similar lines. On May 10, 2021, a division bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthil kumar Ramamoorthy said that central and state governments, instead of being under prepared and later ruing for not having put in place additional resources, should be “over-prepared” to tackle the crisis if there is a third wave of Covid-19.