Did authorities in Tamil Nadu fail to see the signs?

Experts say failure to close Koyambedu market in Chennai early led to explosion of COVID-19 cases

06/05/2020, RAMYA KANNAN,CHENNAI

Months into the pandemic, pieces of the sub-cellular pathogenic puzzle seem to be falling into place. One thing amply clear now is that its spread is akin to a storm - dispersing from a focal point to a larger area.

This is exactly how Koyambedu market has come to infect large parts of Tamil Nadu.

An analysis of States that have had over 2,500 cases shows how it is often the biggest/busiest city that SARS-CoV-2 seems to strike in. The lesson that governments could take from this is to look for, in the initial stages, an epicentre and launch control measures.

In retrospect, perhaps the shutting down of the Koyambedu market comes at least a month late.

The signs were there for all to see. Chennai, which had the highest number of cases, also showed a high preponderance in its northern parts, which have a density of about 27,000 people per square km. The population density in Chennai, and Koyambedu market, are among the key reasons that make physical distancing difficult in the city.

No relief

Unlike in rural areas, where the landscape offers relief, cities such as Chennai do not have any such relief, says K. Kolandaisamy, former director of public health who led the COVID-19 control efforts until recently.

“Cities are places where infection is magnified rapidly. In a village, or rural area, it will be much slower,” says T. Jacob John, eminent virologist.

HC order a relief for govt.

Bid to derail salary deferment Ordinance suffers a setback

06/05/2020, N.J. NAIR,THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

The High Court decision against staying an Ordinance promulgated for deferring the salary of employees and teachers has come as a reprieve to the State government that is under severe fiscal duress for meeting its routine expenditure.

The High Court order has stymied the Opposition bid to put the government and politically the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the dock for deferring the salary which it claimed was legally untenable.

To avoid delay

The decision to promulgate the Ordinance than going on appeal has proved to be a wiser option. Being hard-pressed for funds to clear the salary and pension bills, the government resolved to take the Ordinance route to avoid a delay and that move seems to have paid well to its advantage.

The Ordinance robed the steam of the Opposition argument that the government’s original decision to deduct the salary lacked legal sanction and also gave sufficient elbow room to act with poise.

Morale booster

Once Governor Arif Mohammed Khan cleared the draft without raising any questions or clarifications considering the gravity of the crisis, it came as a morale booster for the government that is busy with the COVID-19 containment efforts.

The government had challenged the attitude of a section of employees who protested against the decision by burning copies of the order. The Opposition had attempted to turn the tables on the LDF by citing similar protests the front had organised earlier and the government had to rush in with the explanation that the objection was not against the democratic right to protest but the defiance in sharing the huge financial burden imposed by the crisis.

The government also took the sting off the Opposition argument that the decision was imposed without consultations. Ministers cited the rather lukewarm response from service organisations affiliated to the UDF to a Salary Challenge call during the previous floods and the current as a case in point for going ahead with their decision. The court order has cleared the air and set the ground for deducting the salary, but the political row over the Ordinance is likely to smoulder.

Judges raising funds

06/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,KOCHI

Judges of the Kerala High Court are loosening their purse strings to raise money for the distress relief funds of the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister to meet the COVID-19 challenges.

Each judge of the Kerala court would voluntarily contribute at least ₹1 lakh each to the kitty and the amount would be divided into the two accounts. There are 36 judges in the High Court.

S. Manikumar, Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, has launched the initiative by paying ₹1 lakh to the account of a cooperative society at the court. May 8 is fixed as the deadline, judicial sources said.

Meanwhile, nearly 600 judicial officers of the lower judiciary also started resource mobilisation through the Kerala Judicial Officers Association. The association has so far collected around ₹10 lakh and contributions are still coming in, sources said. Staff members of the Kerala courts would also chip in.

The cooperative society of the judicial officers have contributed another ₹5 lakh for the relief works, judicial officers said.

Erode district to move from orange to green zone

The last confirmed case reported in the district was on April 14

06/05/2020, S.P. SARAVANAN,ERODE

Personal distancing norms take a hit at an electronic shop in Erode on Tuesday.

M. GOVARTHAN M_GOVARTHAN

Erode district, which reported its first COVID-19 cases on March 21, is expected to move to the green zone on Wednesday as no active COVID-19 cases has been reported in the last 21 days.

A total of 70 patients were detected in the district of which one person died and 69 others recovered. The last batch of four patients was discharged from the Government Erode Medical College and Hospital in Perundurai on April 28 after which no cases were reported in the next 14 days and the district was moved from red zone to orange zone on April 30.

As per the directions from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, a district will be considered under green zone, if there are no confirmed cases reported since last 21 days in the district. S. Soundammal, Deputy Director of Health Services, told The Hindu that the last confirmed case was reported in the district on April 14 after which no cases were reported for 21 days. “Hence, on May 6, the district will be moved to green zone”, she added.

As per the zonal classification of districts based on the hotspot analysis communicated by Government of India on April 30, classification will be updated on every Monday and updation of the district as green zone will be highlighted in the map released by the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine showing the COVID-19 status of all districts in the State, only on May 11.

Superintendent of Police S. Sakthi Ganesan said that co-operation from the public so far is appreciable. However, the public should understand that reopening of shops are within the overall lockdown measures that will continue till May 17. “The public should venture out only for essential purpose and return home within the stipulated timings and extend cooperation to all authorities,” he added.

‘States, Railways final judge on ticket fare’

Court finds no reason to step in

06/05/2020, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to intervene in a plea alleging that stranded migrant workers journeying home amid COVID-19 lockdown are charged 15% of their rail ticket fare.

A three-judge Bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan on Tuesday said it was not for the court but the State governments and the Railways to take steps.

The Centre was responding to arguments made by advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for a former IIM(A) faculty member Jagdeep S. Chhokar, and lawyer Gaurav Jain that even the 15% fare was too high a burden for the workers. Mr. Bhushan said the government should transport them free of cost.

Nevertheless, the court heartily agreed with Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta that necessary steps were indeed taken to care for the thousands of migrants and their families, mostly poor labourers wanting to return to their native villages to escape starvation and homelessness in the big cities.

The court, under the context, found no reason at all to step in. The Bench said the petition had wanted a direction to the government to allow migrans to return to their native villages.

Punjab bars police with health issues from duty

06/05/2020,CHANDIGARH

Punjab has decided to prohibit all police personnel with medical issues, as well as policewomen with children under five, from frontline duty, in an attempt to protect them from undue exposure to the risk of contracting COVID-19. Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta on Tuesday said several calls received on the newly introduced tele-counselling facility for police personnel had revealed the concerns on this count.

Lockdown violation cases won’t be quashed’

SC rejects petition filed by former DGP

06/05/2020, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT

There cannot be a super government, the SC remarked on a petition.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by a former Director-General of Police of Uttar Pradesh to quash FIRs registered against ordinary citizens for violating the COVID-19 lockdown.

“There cannot be a super government. Everyone is going through difficult times,” a Bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan remarked orally while rejecting the plea.

Vikram Singh, the former DGP of Uttar Pradesh, had cited data collected by a think-tank Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC) — of which he is the chairman — to show that 848 FIRs were filed between March 23 and April 13 under Section 188 of the IPC (disobedience of an order promulgated by a public servant) in 50 police stations in Delhi alone.

The petition cited the Uttar Pradesh government website to say that 15,378 FIRs were registered in Uttar Pradesh against 48,503 persons under Section 188 IPC. Mr. Singh had argued that there were several judgments of the Supreme Court itself that FIRs cannot be registered under Section 188 IPC.

“Police action on an individual who is perhaps suffering from distress and lack of information as a result of the circumstances has ramifications which can extend beyond the coronavirus lockdown, and cannot be good for a constitutional democracy,” the petition had said.