BMC releases stricter containment zone rules; more Covid-19 tests for Mumbai

Given the rising number of cases in Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to further tighten containment rules in sealed buildings across

Given the rising number of cases in Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to further tighten containment rules in sealed buildings across the city and to scale testing per day to 16,000-18,000 tests. This is up from the current target of 15,000 tests daily. Municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal issued the new directives in a review meeting with all assistant commissioners, zonal deputy municipal commissioners, deans of municipal hospitals and officers of BMC’s public health department, on Wednesday.

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The move comes as Mumbai on Wednesday recorded its highest-ever number of Covid-19 cases in a single day, at 2,654 cases, taking the city’s total count to 205,268. Mumbai on Wednesday also recorded 46 deaths due to Covid-19, taking the toll to 8,929. At present, there are 26,663 active cases in the city.

Chahal told Hindustan Times, “BMC will further scale testing, and has a target of conducting 16,000 to 18,000 tests a day.”

All residential buildings will now have to screen domestic help and other employees who have access to the building such as drivers, sweepers, security personnel. While retaining the current rule of sealing an entire building only if there are cases on two or more floors, or if there are more than 10 cases, BMC will ensure no one exits or enters the building.

Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner of the public health department, said, “Entry and exit will be regulated in a sealed building. There are three permutations and combinations for this sealing. If a patient is quarantined in his house, no one can enter or exit his house during the duration of the quarantine, except a health worker. Same applies to the floor and building if it is sealed. For medical emergencies, BMC will provide an ambulance to take the quarantined person to a hospital. In case of groceries, they need to be delivered either to the gate of the building, or the door of the sealed home.”

A senior civic official said that this directive will move the onus from the chairman of the cooperative housing society to the civic body itself. “Depending on the severity of the spread of infection in the building, BMC may decide to man the entrance too,” the official said.

Assistant commissioners of all wards will now revert to old measures regarding testing, tracing, door-to-door surveys and conducting fever camps to ensure more tests are conducted per day in each ward. “All high-risk contacts and close contacts of positive patients in sealed buildings will be tested by BMC. More fever camps will be organised, and frontline health workers will be screened periodically,” said Kakani.

A ward officer told HT, “We have decided to hold more fever camps, and also test all residents of a sealed building.” Another ward officer said, “At my ward, I have decided to frequently screen employees of commercial places such as municipal markets as one vendor can easily spread the infection to many shoppers. There will be no way of tracing such contacts.”

Chahal also directed all hospitals to update the numbers of vacant beds every night on BMC’s portal and has stressed that action will be taken if this is not done seriously. “We will not straight away take extreme action such as shutting down a hospital. But we will issue warnings first, a show-cause notice if required at a later stage, if the hospital persists in not updating vacant beds figures every night,” Kakani added.