HC seeks info on govt initiatives to tackle coronavirus
The High Court yesterday directed the government to issue a gazette notification by today declaring coronavirus a contagious disease in the country, and to inform it about steps taken to tackle this disease.
The health secretary has been asked to issue the gazette notification including the name of coronavirus in the list of communicable diseases under the Communicable Diseases (Prevention, Control and Eradication) Act, 2018, to tackle any emergency situation related to public health by checking and eradicating this contagious disease.
The court also asked the deputy attorney general concerned to collect information from the Directorate General of Health Services about the steps taken by the government to tackle the outbreak of coronavirus and to place the information before it today.
The bench of Justice Md Ashraful Kamal and Justice Sardar Md Rashed Jahangir came up with the order while hearing a writ petition filed by rights organisation Law and Life Foundation, seeking necessary orders.
The court also set today for resuming hearing on the petition.
Writ petitioner's counsel Barrister Humayun Kabir Pallab told The Daily Star that if the name of coronavirus disease is included in the list under the Communicable Diseases Act, then coronavirus patients will be kept under isolation and quarantine and be treated under legal procedures.
Besides, international organisations including the United Nations and World Health Organization will treat Bangladesh as coronavirus-affected country and may take necessary measures, he said.
The lawyer said names of several (23) diseases including malaria, black fever, dengue and anthrax are included as communicable diseases in the list under the law, but the name of coronavirus has not yet been included in the list.
The law has empowered the government to include the names of "emerging or reemerging" diseases in the list through issuing a gazette notification, Barrister Humayun Kabir added.
Barrister Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal, newly-elected secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association, also placed arguments supporting the writ petition, while Deputy Attorney General Debashis Bhattacharyya represented the government.
Earlier in the day, Law and Life Foundation filed the writ petition with the HC, seeking directives on the authorities concerned to close all the courts across the country to contain the spread of coronavirus, and to keep people coming from abroad in the state-designated quarantines.
The organisation, in the petition, prayed to the HC to ask the government to form a high-powered monitoring committee to examine whether the quarantine centres are run properly.
In the petition, the organisation said academic institutions have been closed to keep people safe from coronavirus, but courts -- where a large number of people gather daily -- are not closed yet. They argued that the courts need to be closed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Meanwhile yesterday, Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain said he will take a decision about closing the courts of the country after discussing with judges of the Appellate and High Court Divisions of the Supreme Court at a meeting.
He said they will consider the situation of coronavirus outbreak and the issues of litigants who approach the courts for remedies.
The chief justice said this while talking to media after a tree-plantation programme at the Supreme Court premises, on the occasion of celebrating the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Judges of the Appellate and High Court Divisions were present on the occasion.
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