Maharashtra, Mumbai issue steps to contain Omicron

The Maharashtra government in a notification on Saturday made it mandatory for people to be fully vaccinated to access public places and public transport, in order to contain Omicron. It also said it will monitor crowding at weddings and open spaces to prevent super-spreader events

The state government in a notification on Saturday made it mandatory for people to be fully vaccinated to access public places and public transport. It also said it will monitor crowding at weddings and open spaces to prevent super-spreader events. The notification has also reiterated that the domestic flight travellers will have to be either fully vaccinated or shall carry an RT-PCR test report valid for 72 hours.

The notification has reiterated that the domestic flight travellers will have to be either fully vaccinated or shall carry an RT-PCR test report valid for 72 hours. The Maharashtra government in a notification on Saturday made it mandatory for people to be fully vaccinated to access public places and public transport, in order to contain Omicron. (HT PHOTO)

Simultaneously, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), all international passengers arriving at the city’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International airport from “countries of concern” including countries from Africa, will be made to undergo mandatory RT-PCR testing for Covid-19, and if found positive, will be sent to an institutional quarantine centre while their samples would be sent to the city’s genome sequencing lab.

This is in light of the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes Covid-19 – that has been named Omicron by World Health Organisation (WHO). The variant, B.1.1.529, was first reported to WHO from South Africa, which has tagged it as a ‘variant of concern.

The travel history of all international passengers will be verified through their passports on arrival and would be required to proffer their travel history of the past 15 days. All international passengers arriving at the airport will be examined for symptoms of Covid-19.

According to additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani the “countries of concern” include South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Mozambique, apart from some Middle Eastern and European countries.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray spoke to the city municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal on Saturday following which senior BMC officials including additional municipal commissioners Ashwini Bhide, P. Velrasu and Kakani, held a meeting later in the day with the joint commissioner of police (Law and Order) Vishwas Nagre-Patil, airport officials and superintendents of all major hospitals as well as members of the state Covid task force, the statement issued by the civic body said.

The BMC is expected to update its protocol on testing and institutional quarantine for international passengers following further instructions from the state and Central government.

For the state, chief secretary Sitaram Kunte issued a notification on Saturday making the monitoring of the Covid Appropriate Behavioiour (CAB) stringent. The order says that visitors, guests, customers and organisers at events, programmes, shops, establishments, malls, and gatherings should be fully vaccinated. The onus of the implementation of SOPs lies on the organisers or the operator of the establishments/premises. They will face a penalty of ₹10,000 or ₹50,000 for each violation.

To be sure, the state has witnessed a significant drop in the daily caseload over last two months. From a daily average of 3535 in September and 2021 in October, the average fell to 905 cases during the first 24 days of November.

Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner in-charge of BMC’s public health department, said, “BMC is planning, with airport authorities, to check travel history of international passengers coming to Mumbai, basis stamps on their passport, to be checked at immigration counter. This will be made effective right away.”

The state has so far made both the doses mandatory for travelling in local trains in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. It has now extended the restriction for all the public transport, including taxis and autorickshaws across the state.

Passengers as well as the driver/conductors and, in case of private bus services, operators will be held responsible for failure of the passengers in following Covid-appropriate behaviour (CAB). Violators will be ₹500 individually, and the operator with ₹10,000 per instance. In case of the repeated violations, private operators may also lose their licences. In private vehicles, the onus of maintaining CAB is with the owner of the vehicle, the order states.

Organisers and operators of events will be liable to a penalty of ₹50,000 in the first instance, and could lose their licence in case of repeated violations. In case of taxis and autorickshaws, the responsibility of full vaccination will lie with passengers.

The state has also decided to restrict and monitor weddings for crowding. The state order says that the number of guests at wedding ceremonies at open-to-sky venues, including grounds, lawns, etc, should not be more than 25% of the venue’s capacity. The local authorities have will ascertain the capacity of the venue.

A state official said, “This will be applicable to not only wedding ceremonies but also for other events including cricket, political rallies, and other events. Out of the 2.5 million weddings taking place in India until December 31, 400,000 are expected to take place in Maharashtra and Mumbai.