Amid coronavirus outbreak, Mumbai readies for 26,000 Gulf returnees

The government has ordered a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine even for asymptomatic people coming from Gulf countries, namely the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman.

The municipal corporation in Mumbai is preparing quarantine facilities and isolation wards ahead of the arrival of 26,000 people from Gulf countries in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak, according to officials who did not want to be named.

Passenger wearing mask ,await for their long distance railway at CSTM in Mumbai, on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. (Anshuman Poyrekar / HT Photo)

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) may launch quarantine facilities in some hotels near the Mumbai airport, and has decided open isolation wards in at least 10 city hospitals, the officials said on Thursday.

Another 15,000 people are expected from the US by the end of March and they will be “tracked”, according to BMC officials who did not elaborate. Both the Gulf and the US have been hit by the outbreak.

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The government has ordered a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine even for asymptomatic people coming from Gulf countries, namely the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman.There is no such rule for those arriving from the US, where the virus has infected 9,300 people and resulted in 150 deaths.

The BMC’s efforts come at a time when Maharashta itself has emerged as a hotbed of the Covid-19 infection in India. The state accounts for 41 of the 166 cases reported till Thursday morning, the highest in the country. Six more patients have tested positive in initial diagnosis. Earlier this week, Mumbai recorded its first fatality.

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“To avoid further spread of disease, the civic body has decided to track passengers coming from affected countries. As of now, we are preparing to track 15,000 Indians from the USA by the end of March,” a senior official from civic body said.

Officials say they do not want to take any chance since 15 people in the state with a travel history to Dubai have already tested positive.

A senior health department official said the civic body has identified three categories of people with international travel history: ‘A’ category for people who visited severely affected countries and are showing symptoms; ‘B’ for elderly people (travellers older than 60) and high-risk contacts; and ‘C’ for people from non-affected countries who will have to be under home quarantine.