One tests positive, BMC prepares jumbo facilities, hotels to quarantine int’l passengers

BMC reserved about 800 beds at the jumbo facility at Richardson and Cruddas at Byculla for quarantine of international passengers

Mumbai One Mumbai resident out of 100 that were traced by BMC with travel history to countries of concern within the past fortnight tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday. A senior BMC official confirmed that the person is asymptomatic and is currently at Seven Hills Hospital.

A senior BMC official confirmed that the person is asymptomatic and is currently at Seven Hills Hospital (HT File)

Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner in charge of BMC’s public health department said, “The S gene is not missing in this patient’s sample collected for RT-PCR test. This itself is an indicator that he is not positive for Omicron. However, to be absolutely certain, BMC has sent his sample for genome sequencing.”

The person is a resident of the suburbs of Mumbai. BMC will now begin tracing contacts of this person, and those who came in immediate contact with him have already been quarantined.

About 800 beds at the jumbo facility at Richardson and Cruddas at Byculla have now been exclusively reserved for quarantining international passengers who test positive for Covid-19, as BMC moved out existing Covid patients from this jumbo facility to Kasturba Hospital.

This comes at a time when concerns are rising over the Omicron variant. While there are no cases of Omicron in Mumbai yet, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Saturday tightened testing and screening guidelines for international passengers arriving in Mumbai from countries of concern.

BMC also identified 15 to 20 two and three-star hotels around the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Tuesday, where international passengers can be quarantined and would want to pay for a facility instead of opting for a municipal jumbo facility.

Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner in charge of BMC’s public health department said, “We have located and spoken to 15-20 hotels, which were also on board with BMC during the first wave, to offer their rooms for quarantining those who opt to pay, in case international passengers test positive.”

Currently, all passengers arriving from ‘countries of concern’ will mandatorily undergo RT-PCR test at the airport. If they test positive, they will have to be quarantined institutionally and their samples will be sent for genomic sequencing.

In the last 15 days, 466 people arrived from ‘countries of concern’. Of these, 100 are from Mumbai and none of them is positive.

From Wednesday, BMC is also launching a campaign to ensure all employees of private and public establishments are fully vaccinated. The municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal will write to all public establishments in Mumbai on Wednesday, directing them to allow only fully vaccinated employees to attend office and to ensure all social distancing norms and Covid-19 hygiene is followed on their premises.

A senior civic official from BMC’s public health department said, “A letter signed by the municipal commissioner will be sent to all head of departments at public offices urging them to ensure all employees are fully vaccinated.”

Ward officers have been asked to locate clusters of private establishments in their areas and send copies of this letter (signed by the municipal commissioner) to these establishments. BMC will offer help to private and public establishments to ensure all their employees are fully vaccinated, including arranging vaccination camps on the premises of these offices, if requested.