HC asks Maharashtra govt about steps taken to care for COVID-19 affected children

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked the Maharashtra government to inform the court about the steps it was taking to check the spread of COVID-19 among children. A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni asked the state to file a reply on the matter by May 19, the next date of hearing.

As experts had cautioned the nation to brace for the third wave of the pandemic, in which children might be most vulnerable, the authorities must take pre-emptive steps and strengthen health infrastructure in the state, the court said. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) counsel, senior advocate Anil Sakhre told the High Court that till April 2021, 10,000 children under the age of 10 had contracted COVID-19 and 17 had died of the infection.

At least 33 children between the ages of 10 and 18 had died in the city of COVID-19 so far, Sakhre told the court. To this, the court said the state must consult experts, paediatricians and other stakeholders to strengthen the healthcare infrastructure for children and their caregivers. "Children will be accompanied by their mothers or other caregivers. Make separate arrangements for their mothers and caregivers too. File a reply on what is being done," the court said.