The Telangana High Court on Thursday directed the state to file its reply to a petition seeking protection of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff in the face of attacks on medical personnel during the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Telangana High Court served notices to the state government, including the health ministry and the DGP asking the state to respond immediately on the action initiated against the attacks on doctors and medical staff at Gandhi Hospital. Taking suo moto notice of a letter written by an advocate who raised serious concern against the attacks on health workers, the High Court asked the state government the measures initiated to protect the medical staff in discharging their duties in the fight against the corona virus.

Last week, hearing a petition filed by Telangana Jana Samithi vice-president Prof. P L Visheshwar Rao, the High Court directed the state government to submit an interim report by April 9 and a complete report by April 15 on the measures it had initiated with regard to providing required personal protective equipment to doctors, paramedical staff, nurses and ward boys to combat Covid-19, availability of medicines, food to patients, quarantine facilities to foreign returnees.

The petitioner contended that the state government had failed to provide standard graded protective gear including N-95 masks, testing kits, sanitizers, personal protective equipment for all medical professionals and health workers involved in the treatment of corona virus patients. A bench headed by justices R S Chauhan and A Abhishek Reddy took up the matter for hearing.