The Tripura High Court has observed that reduction in the number of Novel Coronavirus infections cannot be seen as the disappearance of the pandemic.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Akil Kureshi and Justice S. G. Chattopadhyay, while hearing a batch of petitions regarding the handling of Novel Coronavirus in the state on August 16, held that the recent trend of corona positivity in the state has shown a steady decline.
The state is reporting around 2.5 percent positivity rate of the total tests conducted on a given day. This has enabled the state administration to relax some of the Covid-related restrictions, it noted.
The Court said,
“The past experience should teach us an important lesson. This virus has shown a nasty tendency of mutating and reappearing with vengeance. The High Court is sure that the state administration is acutely aware of this phenomenon, therefore, it appeals to the residents not to drop their guard against the virus and continue to take all precautions to ensure that the rate of infection does not rise again.”
The Court noted that the state administration has been publishing vaccination data on a daily basis. Presently, the administration has a stock of over eight lakh vaccines and supply of further around 3.5 lakh vaccines in the near future is promised. As against this, the daily number of vaccines administered has, in the recent past, gone down substantially. The data published by the Government would show that more than 90 percent of the eligible population over the age of 18 has received the first dose of vaccine.
Also Read: Supreme Court refuses to quash CBI FIR against Anil Deshmukh
“The second dose of vaccine has reached fewer people. Therefore, the state administration may see the need to make greater efforts to ensure coverage of the remaining population, who have so far not received even the first dose. Administration of second dose of vaccine to those who have already received the first shot must also receive the same amount of attention,” it said.
S. S. Dey, Advocate General of the state informed the Court that all centers in the State are open for administration of second dose and there are sufficient vaccines as well as a mechanism to administer the same.
Also Read: Anil Deshmukh probe: SC dismisses Maharashtra plea to remove some paragraphs in CBI FIR
The Court is of the view that the Advocate General was, however, wondering whether somewhat slow response for receiving second dose was on account of relatively improved Coronavirus situation in the state, leading to reluctance or complacency.
“We hope these are not the factors contributing to the relatively slow administration of the second dose of vaccines. If found to be one of the factors, the state may consider making more aggressive efforts in order to administer a second dose to all eligible people,” the High Court suggested, while posting the matter on November 11 for further hearing.