Covid-19 Tests
The following Covid-19 tests are done in India(( Testing Stratgey, Indian Council for Medical Research, available at, https://www.icmr.gov.in/pdf/covid/strategy/Testing_Strategy_v6_04092020.pdf)):
Rapid Antigen Test (RAT):
An antigen refers to any foreign matter or viral proteins in the body that triggers an immune response. This test helps identify the antigens related to the Covid-19 virus. Antigen test, also known as rapid antigen test, is a rapid diagnostic test, but these tests have a higher chance of missing an active infection.
RT-PCR:
RT-PCR is a method of testing that is used to directly detect the presence of the virus in the sample. The test detects the RNA(Ribonucleic acid) of the virus which is the genetic material of the virus.
TrueNat
TrueNat is a chip-based, portable RT-PCR machine, originally developed as a portable diagnostic tool for tuberculosis. The latest versions of the TrueNat machine can detect an enzyme (called RdRp) found in the RNA of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
Antibody test
An antibody test, also known as Serology test, is a screening test for Covid-19 antibodies in the blood. It tells if someone was previously infected with the virus that causes Covid-19. The antibody test does not look for the active virus but checks whether the immune system has responded to the infection.
Costs of Covid-19 Tests
The Government has arranged for free Covid-19 testing at approved laboratories across India. Although the test is not free in private labs and hospitals, the Supreme Court(( Shashank Deo Sudhi v. Union of India, 2020 SCC OnLine SC 358)).has stated that free testing should be done for the poor who are eligible under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana. Beneficiaries of this scheme will be able to access free testing in private labs and access to Covid-19 treatment at government empanelled hospitals.
To get tested free of cost, a person can go to any government hospital. Calling the helpline numbers before getting a test done will enable a person to get updated information. Please see here for the list of government and private clinics for testing of Covid-19, as released by Indian Council of Medical Research.
The legal age for smoking is 18 years. It is illegal for(( Section 6, the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003.)) anyone to sell, in any way, cigarettes or any other tobacco products to anyone below 18 years of age, or within 100 yards of an educational institute.
Duties of Sellers
If you are selling cigarettes or other tobacco products, you must ensure the following(( Section 2, the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production Supply and Distribution) Amendment Rules, 2011.)):
- The person purchasing the product(s) is above 18 years of age. To ascertain this, you may ask for evidence, such as an ID proof, etc.
- Tobacco product is not sold through vending machines
- The products are displayed so that easy access to them is not possible
- No product is handled or sold by any person below 18 years of age
- A board is displayed at the place where such products are being sold that states “Sale of tobacco products to a person under the age of eighteen years is a punishable offence”, among other specifications.(( Annexure I, Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production Supply and Distribution) Amendment Rules, 2011.))
Punishment
You cannot sell tobacco products to a person below 18 years of age. The punishment is a fine of Rs. 200.(( Section 24, the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003.))
Trigger Warning: The following content contains information on drugs and narcotics which some readers may find disturbing.
The punishment for repeat offenders under this law is very strict. If you were convicted once before for either committing, abetting or attempting to commit or even conspiring to commit a crime under the drug laws in India, the second or any subsequent punishment for the same crime can be 1.5 times higher, both for imprisonment and fine, than the previous punishment you received(( Section 31, Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985))
In some serious cases, if you were convicted for a crime in relation to commercial quantity of a drug and are now being convicted again for the same crime, you may be given the death penalty. Before 2014, death penalty was mandatorily imposed for certain subsequent offences, but that has now been changed and is left at the discretion of the judge.
When States impose a curfew, they pass orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure , 1973 (Section 144). A curfew is imposed in districts and States to prevent the localized spread of Covid-19 based on the number of cases in that particular area. This is an administrative power that rests with Magistrates in a district and they even have the power to restrict services during a curfew be it entertainment, transport etc. For example, a curfew order may be for specific districts asking people not to move out of their houses after 7 pm. This is different from lockdowns, which are imposed by the Central Government and disaster management authorities to take action and give guidelines for States as well as the whole of India to control and reduce the impact during the outbreak of any epidemic or pandemic. For example, imposing a travel ban between states to prevent movement of people during the epidemic.
The District Magistrate, Sub-Divisional Magistrate or Executive Magistrate, who is empowered by the State, passes the Section 144 order when immediate prevention is required. Such orders or directions aim at preventing or trying to prevent:
- Any obstruction, annoyance or injury to any person
- Any danger to human life, health or safety
- Disturbance of public tranquility
- Riot or an affray (group fighting)
A Section 144 order can be directed either to a particular individual, group of persons residing in a place, or to the public in general when visiting a particular place.
Restrictions under a curfew
The aim of the restrictions under a Section 144 order can be to:
- Prevent protests that can lead to unrest or riots.
- Prevent epidemics which affect public health.
- Restrict anyone from carrying any sort of weapon.
- Restrict movement of the public.
- Close particular educational institutions.
- Ban any kind of public meetings or rallies.
Violating curfew orders
Some of the punishments for violating Covid-19 curfew orders are(( Section 269, Indian Penal Code, 1860; Section 188, Indian Penal Code, 1860, Section 143, Indian Penal Code, 1860, Section 147, Indian Penal Code, 1860, Section 55, National Disaster Management Act, 2005)):
- Negligently spreading infection of a disease. The punishment is jail time up to six months and/or fine.
- Disobeying an order issued by a public servant . The punishment is jail time up to six months and/or Rs. 1000.
- Being a member of an unlawful assembly. The punishment is jail time up to six months and/or fine.
- Rioting.The punishment is jail time up to two years and/or fine.
- Punishment for Obstructing an officer or Government employee. The punishment is jail time up to one year and/or fine.
Under the law, it is the responsibility of the owners/managers of public places, such workplaces, shopping malls, etc., to ensure no one smokes in that public place(( Section 3(1)(a), the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008.[↩])). Specifically, the owner of the public place must ensure that:
- A board is displayed(( Section 3(1)(b), the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008.)) at all entrances, floors, stairwells and conspicuous places that clearly states “No Smoking – Smoking Here Is An Offence”. The kind of board required has certain specifications((Schedule II, the prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008.)). For example, it must be 60 cm by 30 cm, with a white background. This should also include a depiction of a cigarette/bidi and a cross mark over it.
- No ashtrays, lighters, or any other object that aids smoking is provided in the public place(( Section 3(1)(c), the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008.)).
- The name of the person to whom a complaint may be made for a violation of these rules is displayed prominently in a public place(( Section 3(2), the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008.))
If the owner/manager of the public place ignores the reported violation, this means that the owner of the public place will be bound to pay the cumulative fine that equals the number of offences committed.(( Section 3(3), the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008.))
Trigger Warning: The following content contains information on drugs and narcotics which some readers may find disturbing.
Amphetamine is a psychotropic substance(( Section 2 (xxiii), Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985; read also Schedule, Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985)), the manufacture, possession, transport, import, export, sale, purchase and use of which is illegal in India. Some activities may be allowed but only after obtaining an express license or permit from the government for the same.
The punishment for carrying out any of these activities is proportional to the quantity of Amphetamine that you are caught with.
- A small quantity (2 gm) – Jail time up to 1 year and/or fine up to Rs 10,000
- 2 gm to 50 gm – Jail time up to 10 years and a fine up to Rs 1 lakh
- Commercial quantity (50 gm) – Jail time between 10 and 20 years, and fine between Rs 1 lakh and 2 lakhs. The Court may also impose a fine of more than 2 lakhs(( Section 22, Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985)).
The Central Government has released an official Covid-19 tracker app i.e. the Aarogya Setu app. It tracks community transmission and traces the contact and travel history of individuals who are quarantined, using both location data and Bluetooth-based proximity tracking on users’ phones. This is one means of contact tracing.
Certain states also have applications that track the mobiles of people who are under quarantine. Some examples of such apps are Quarantine Watch by the Government of Karnataka, SMC COVID-19 Tracker by the Surat Municipal Corporation, Gujarat, Mahakavach by the Government of Maharashtra, etc.
The patient’s health also gets monitored regularly by the District Surveillance Officer at a district level, who facilitates further follow up by the surveillance teams. The health status of those under home isolation is monitored by the field staff/surveillance teams through personal visits along with a dedicated call center to follow up with the patients on a daily basis. The clinical status of each case is also recorded by the field staff/call center (body temperature, pulse rate and oxygen saturation)(( Revised guidelines for Home Isolation of very mild/pre-symptomatic/asymptomatic COVID-19 cases, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, accessed at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/RevisedHomeIsolationGuidelines.pdf)).
Under the law, certain public places, such as airports, workplaces, etc., may have a room for smoking any tobacco product within their premises. These smoking rooms must abide by the following specifications(( Section 2(e), the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008.):
- The room is physically separate and walled on all four sides
- The entrance must have an automatically closing door
- Has negative air pressure (a technique often used to prevent cross-contamination between rooms) when compared with the rest of the building
- Has an airflow system. This must allow the air to flow outside and not mix with other parts of the building, among other specifications(( Schedule I, the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008))
- A board should be displayed at the entrance of at least 60 cm × 30 cm which states (in English and one Indian language) that “tobacco smoking is harmful to your health and the health of non-smokers” and the “entry of persons below the age of eighteen years is prohibited.”(( Section 2, the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places (Amendment) Rules, 2017))
In addition, depending on the kind of establishment, more rules may apply for the smoking area. For example(( Section 4(2), the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008.)), for airports and restaurants with capacity to seat at least 30 persons, the smoking room cannot be at the entrance or the exit.
Trigger Warning: The following content contains information on drugs and narcotics which some readers may find disturbing.
The law punishes those police officers who maliciously or vexatiously do the following acts(( Section 58 (1), Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985)):
- Enter and search or direct other officers to enter and search a place or a vehicle without any reasonable suspicion.
- Intentionally and unnecessarily seize property or documents under the pretence of searching and seizing narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances.
- Intentionally and unnecessarily detain, search or arrest any person
- The punishment for these crimes is imprisonment for up to 6 months and/or fine of Rs. 1000.
False Complaints
The law also punishes those who willfully give wrong information to the police officers that eventually causes the wrongful search and arrest of people with imprisonment up to 2 years and/or fine(( Section 58 (2), Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985)).
In India, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 regulates the manufacture and distribution of drugs and vaccines.
Authority regulating vaccines
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) is the main regulatory authority. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) is an official member of the CDSCO who is the final regulatory authority for the approval of clinical trials in India.
Procedure for approval for vaccines
The detailed procedure that needs to be followed to get approval for producing vaccines that can be used by the public involves :
Application for approval to manufacture the vaccine
No vaccine can be manufactured for sale without approval from the Licensing Authority appointed by the Central Government. The manufacturer must apply to the Licensing Authority to allow manufacture of the vaccine(( Section 122B, Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940)).
Application for permission to conduct clinical trials for the vaccine
- Clinical trials need to be conducted for the vaccine with the permission of the Licensing Authority.
- The Licensing Authority will give permission to conduct the clinical trials based on a few conditions. The clinical trial has to be conducted according to specified protocols and ‘Good Clinical Practice Guidelines’, and the approval of an Ethics Committee is needed before conducting the trial. Further, the clinical trial must be registered at the Clinical Trials Registry of India. The Licensing Authority’s permission is required to import a vaccine from a foreign country. While applying for permission, the vaccine importer must submit data on the results of local clinical trials of the vaccine carried out according to the specified guidelines. However, this is not necessary if the drug is of such a nature that the Licensing Authority in public interest decides to grant permission on the basis of data available from other countries((Section 122DA, Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940)).
Suspension or cancellation of permission
If the Licensing Authority feels that all the required conditions are not fulfilled, it can also cancel the permission for conducting trials after giving reasons for such cancellation. A person can approach the Central Government to appeal against any order of the Licensing Authority(( Section 122DB, Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940)).
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