Society, Law & Justice: COVID-19 AND ITS NON- STOP VIRULENCE

COVID-19 and its non- stop virulence

Anil K. Khaware

Advocate

As I write this, the nightmare of about one year appears to be resurfacing again and “Amrawati” and other cities in Maharashtra are facing lockdown or on the verge of being put to lockdown again. The covid-19 i.e CorOna Virus DiSease -2019 appears to have undergone mutation and its variant is revisiting. The danger of Covid has not abated completely. The increasing cases of COVID variants, necessitated imposition of lockdown in various cities in Maharashtra, prohibition is again imposed on religious, social or political function and only online conference can be held. The Covid patients increased in last fortnights and mutant Covid appears to have resurfaced again. In Kerala and Punjab also there are symptom of resurgence of Covid. The caution and preventive measures is thus a sine qua non.

It is believed that Corona has made its way from Wuhan (China).It is cosmopolitan in distribution and through mere touch or through aerosols it is transmitted. Though, the Covid was now waning across the globe, still, in its midst reports have come of its variants and reoccurrence of the symptom again in some way. The “Corona” is a virus and is composed of lipoprotein and thrives only upon entering their host with trace of RNA (Ribonucleic acid) and then it makes its host its abode and makes the latter hostage. The “Corona” makes its way to the lungs of human to circumvent the respiratory tract and the host thereafter suffers the inevitable. The Corona, when absorbed by the cells of the ocular, nasal or buccal mucosa, changes its genetic code and converts them into aggressor and multiplier cell. The genesis of Corona from “Wuhan”- a city in People Republic of China and traversed to Italy, Spain, France, Britain, USA, Belgium, Korea, Iran, Australia, Africa amongst other countries. In fact the Corona has engulfed entire Europe, besides, vast part of Asia, North America, South America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. India is also a worst sufferer. The Corona, therefore, is declared as pandemic by World Health Organization (WHO and mechanism of its complete obliteration is still to be in place, though vaccines are invented.

The COVID-19 has tested the resolve of human in very different way. The problem of COVID remained enduring and its impact was resolute. The COVID has caused havoc leading to worldwide catastrophe and the manner of its cosmopolitan spread is a matter of grave concern. It is a matter of record that more than 130 Million peoples are already infected globally and about a Million have died due to this. In India at this stage, more than One (1) Crore of peoples are reported infected so far with Corona, though, about 99% of such people have come out of the morass. The people inflicted with Covid is still surfacing, though, which is cause of concern. On 12^th February 2020 the WHO has declared COVID-l9 as 'Pandemic.

It is no gain saying that the epidemic or pandemic as old as the civilization itself. The world has faced several of pandemics in centuries. For ready reference, some of the pandemics are listed below:

S.N	Pandemic	Remark
1.	Justinian's Plague	Goes back to 542 AD. The earliest epidemic killing Millions. The outbreak first emerged in Constantinople as plague-ridden fleas thrived on black rats that munched on the grains brought from Egypt.
2.	Great Bubonic Plague	Erupted in Europe in 1347.About 200 Millions were killed in about Four (4) years. The bacteria Yersinia pestis, which was also the culprit behind Justinian’s plague had wiped out a large number of the population and continued till 1351.
3.	The Great Plague of London	In around 1665, London came under the grips of the pandemic which lasted a year. In London 1/4^th of its population was wiped out
4.	Small Pox	The outbreak was caused in Europe, Asia and Arabia. It was caused by a virus and about 1/3^rd of infected persons had lost their lives
5.	Cholera	Initially reported in England around 19^th century and had killed a huge population. It was caused due to the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholera
6.	Spanish Flu	Spread all over the world and named as Spanish flue. The flue had killed Crores of population and even in India itself have damage was inflicted due to this.

REVAMPING OF LEGAL PROCESS

In the backdrop of the pandemic, it is realized that not only therapy of disease but a legal framework to tackle the issues arising out of it needed revamping. The “rumour monger” has emerged as well as delinquents seeking dissemination of disease through their acts unwittingly or knowingly.

In India in the above context, we have the following law:

(i) The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 (EDA)

(ii) THE DISASTER MANAGEMENT ACT, 2005 (DMA)

(iii) Section 188 of Indian Penal Code

(iv) Sections 269 & 270 of Indian Penal Code

(v) Section 505 of Indian penal Code

It may be noted that India had no proper law to address Pandemic till 2005,when Disaster Management act (DMA) was enacted, which is the only comprehensive Act related to epidemic. The EDA 1897 has been a summary Act and is a colonial legacy. Ironically, the Act itself is named as EDA and there has been no reference to pandemic in it. In fact, there is no reference to pandemic in DMA either. Neither of the Acts therefore offered detailed provisions in the face of what are ongoing, though, DMA appear to be a comprehensive Act. The fact, that behavior of mankind has undergone sea change over the years and meeting such delinquencies or criminal acts does not find adequate reflection in the punishment column.

The Disaster Management Act, 2005

India has taken the extreme measure of enforcing successive lockdowns and the 1st lockdown for 21 days was announced. It was probably the first time, the nation was under complete lockdown under the provisions of the Disaster Management Act., 2005. This is also the first time a central government had issued directions of this magnitude to the states. The Disaster Management Act provides for a National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and section 6 of the legislation deals with powers of the authority—from which the authority has issued these directions to the state and central governments. Section 6(2)(i) of the Act authorises the NDMA, headed by the Prime Minister, to take measures for “the prevention of disaster, or the mitigation or preparedness and capacity building for dealing with the threatening disaster situation or disaster as it may consider necessary”. The Act also provisions for a national executive authority, which exercises powers to issue guidelines that could be in effect during the lockdown.

The Disaster Management Act also casts a duty on the states to follow the directions of the NDMA as mandated under Section 38 of the Disaster Management Act. The section 51 of DMA encapsulates provision for imprisonment for Two (2) years for (i) obstructing the public servant including those authorised by the authorities under DMA and (ii) refusing to comply with any directions issued by the officers/personnel under the DMA. The punishment is Two (2) years of imprisonment, if convicted and if the refusal leads to loss of lives or any imminent danger. Section 505 of Indian Penal Code together with Section 54 of DMA could be invoked, for publication of or circulation of any rumour which is likely to cause any fear or alarm. The punishment prescribed is one (1) year under the DMA and Three (3) years under section 505 of The Indian Penal Code.

COMPLAINT UNDER DISASTER MANAGEMENT ACT 2005

The Central, State or District Authority could file a complaint or by national or State Government officials from Central or State Government. A court shall be thus empowered to take cognizance on the complaint, if filed. It is relevant to state that any person could be entitled to lodge a complaint, provided a notice of at least Thirty (30) days is given by such person entailing the intention to file the complaint for alleged offence. However, protective shield is accorded to the public servant, in case the action was taken in good faith. Similarly, under the EDA, no action or suit could be initiated against the acts of government officials, if done in good faith.

PROMULGAMATION OF ORDINANCE

The ordinance was promulgated by the Union Government and also by the other states with a view to make the punishment more stringent as the existing Act had milder provision of punishment. It was necessary in view of attacks on Doctors and health care workers. The damages were to be payable by the offenders, in case of loss to public properties. The provisioning of penalty was made up to Rs 5 Lakhs and punishment terms could go upto Seven (7) years. The Offences were made non bailable and cognizable.

THE GLOBAL WINDOW

Various countries has their own mechanism to tackle the pandemic.For instance, in (i) United States: Under the Public Health and Service Act, the US Department of Health and Human Services has laid down specific guidelines to assist states during health emergencies and prevent the spread of communicable diseases. In this context it will be apt to draw parallel vis a vis law in United States. The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act) was enacted in 1988 whereunder United States Federal law was designed to bring an orderly and systematic means of federal natural disaster assistance for state and local governments in carrying out their responsibilities to aid citizens. As a prelude to The Stafford Act, 1988 was in fact “Disaster Relief Act of 1974”. It created the system in place today by which a presidential disaster declaration or an emergency declaration triggers financial and physical assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Congress amended it by passing the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 in the year 2006 with the “Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act, and again in 2018 with the Disaster Recovery Reform Act (DRRA). In Australia, for instance, Section 51 of the Constitution provides the Federal government with legislative powers to quarantine. An overarching law called the National Health Security Act and Agreement has been put in place to abide by Australia’s obligations towards the IHR. The Australian Government’s 2011 National Health Emergency Response Arrangements also highlights how the government will respond to public health emergencies. Within the European Union (EU), EU Decision 1082/13 is the key legal instrument for threats to health. They endorse compliance with the IHR. Both the IHR and Decision required signatory states to develop National Plans for Pandemic Preparedness. Many countries have plans in place, which can include measures, such as rationing of resources, enforced isolation or quarantine, or seizure of goods and property. The WHO and the EU also encourage the use of legal frameworks to support those plans. In Spain, all private hospitals have been nationalised in the wake of the pandemic. While such a drastic measures may not have been taken in India ,but there should certainly be guidelines for public-private partnerships in the medical field.

The mutant Covid

The mutant variant of covid-19 is also being reported of late in Britain, South Africa and Brazil. The mutant which is variants of Covid-19 is reported to be more lethal. Obviously, the mutant virus has evolved from the parent virus. The genetic material in living organism is DNA or RNA. The DNA is composed of nitrogenous based i.e Adenine (A), Thymine (T), Guanine(G) and cytosine (C). In RNA, in place of Thymine Uracil (U) is present. The genetic material also has pentose sugar i.e ribose sugar in RNA and De-oxyribose sugar in DNA and phosphorus as components. The mutation occurs at gene level and is generally referred as point mutation.

It is now clear that UK variant carries the N501 Y mutation ,whereas Brazilian variant has E484K mutation whereas South African variant has both. It is also believed that South African and Brazilian variant are different from the UK variant as the former has the capacity to easily enter the lungs. The Covid variant B.1.351(SA), B.1.1.7(UK) and P.1(Brazil) have unique collection mutation which make them spread more rapidly or cheat vaccine immunity.

VACCINATION

The efforts were unveiled and India and vaccines produced by the Serum Institute of India are "Covashield” and yet another vaccine was prepared in the name and style of Covaxin. The WHO has listed the Emergency Use Listing (EULs) for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine (BNT162b2). On 15 February 2021, WHO issued EULs for two versions of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India and SKBio. WHO is on track to EUL other vaccine products in the meanwhile.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is being manufactured locally by the Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer. It is producing more than 50 million doses a month. The vaccine, which is known as Covishield, is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus (known as an adenovirus) from chimpanzees.

The vaccines and its evaluated response are as under:

MUTANT VARIANTS that affected the impact of vaccines

	B.1.1.7 (UK)		B.1.35 (SOUTH AFRICA)	P.1 Brazil
	50% more transmissible, 30% higher mortality		Dominated in SA. Shown reduced efficacy to 30%	Has E 484K mutation present in SA variant that can escape immunity
VACCINE
ASTRAZZENECA OXFORD VACCINE	10% lower efficacy	50-60% drop in efficacy		Unknown
MODERNA VACCINE	1.8x-2x drop in neutralization in lab test	6.4x drop in neutralization in lab test		11-3xdrop in neutralization in lab test
PFIZER BIONTECH VACCINE	1.25-3.85 x drop in neutralization in lab test	3.1 x drop in neutralization in lab test		1.25-3.85 x drop in neutralization in lab test

The Government of India has already approved two vaccines, subsequent to its approval by the Drug Control General of India (DCGI) for restricted emergency uses Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech have prepared the vaccines and have distributed the vaccines for the use in first page. It is learnt that about 1.3 Crore people, mostly comprising of health care peoples have been administered with the first dosage of the vaccine. Now, the Central Government has decided that in second phase commencing from March 1^st 2021, the people of 60 years and above and people of 45 years of age with serious co morbidities shall be administered the vaccine and for this purpose an application namely CoWin (Covin Vaccine Intelligence Work) is introduced.

The response to Pandemic by Delhi High Court

Like every sector even the justice delivery system is hit by pandemic. The extra-ordinary situation calls for extra-ordinary measures, goes the adage and our high court had adopted video conferencing system during the earlier part of lockdown itself so that the door of justice is not foreclosed. The graded system of hearing ad hybrid system was also in place gradually to mitigate the likely spread of Covid and by adopting Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and at the same time ensuring urgent case hearing. The SOP is still in place in as Much as wearing masks, provisioning of immediate sanitization, transparent curtain in court rooms, adherence to social distancing leading to decongestion in court rooms are measures being followed scrupulously. What is also noteworthy is that the periodic directions issued by the hon’ble High court to the district courts and decision to provide for the infrastructure for virtual hearing has ensured hearings of cases so that in the court of first instance legal recourse are not compromised. These measures has gone a long way towards justice dispensation system. Even periodic testing for Covid was held in high court premises. To achieve efficacy in the system, despite challenging circumstances, the bench and bar deserve kudos for inter se co-ordination to achieve the goal.

References:

· letters@hindustantimes.com (Rhythma kaul)

· Stafford Act Declarations 1953-2014: Trends, Analyses, and Implications for Congress https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc700766/m1/1/high_res_d/R42702_2015Jul14.pdf

· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_epidemics

· The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 (EDA)

· THE DISASTER MANAGEMENT ACT, 2005 (DMA)

· Code of Criminal Procedure

· Indian Penal Code