The high court on Wednesday asked the Bengal government to submit an affidavit sating how people were tested to know if they were infected with the novel coronavirus or not and whether WHO guidelines were followed to ensure the safety of health workers engaged in treating Covid-19 patients.

A division bench of Justice Dipankar Dutta and Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked the state to file the affidavit by April 16 when Calcutta High Court would hear the matter.

CPM leader and doctor Fuad Halim had moved the court accusing the state of failing to provide proper treatment to Covid-19 patients. The petition also alleged that the government’s handling of the disease was not transparent and it was hiding from the people the actual number of patients.

Halim’s petition was moved through video-conferencing by senior lawyer Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya. The counsel said the statistics regarding the number of Covid-affected persons provided by the state government and the chief minister did not match with those of the Union health ministry.

“The government has not taken enough safety measures for doctors and health employees either,” Bhattacharyya said.

Contacted, Halim said: “Seriousness of the issue prompted me to move the court. I want the state authorities to be more cautious while fighting the pandemic.”

Advocate Smarajit Roy Chowdhury had moved the court on the same issue on Wednesday. He alleged that the government was not following the WHO’s guidelines while cremating the bodies of Covid-19 patients.