As Covid cases spike, Mumbai civic body tweaks sealing rules for buildings

With the rise in COVID-19 infections and detection of Omicron cases suggesting an increase in "transmissibility", the Mumbai civic body on Monday revised the protocol regarding sealing of buildings where coronavirus cases are found.

The revised guidelines will come into effect from Tuesday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Monday night.

As per the modified protocol, an entire building or a wing of a building complex or a housing society will be sealed if COVID-19 cases are found in more than 20% of the occupied flats in that building or the wing of the building complex or society.

As per the old protocol, a floor of a building used to be sealed if five cases are detected. The entire building used to be sealed if more than five cases are found.

The civic body has now made isolation mandatory for at least 10 days from the onset of symptoms or testing in the case of asymptomatic patients.

"The patients shall be isolated for at least 10 days from the onset of symptoms or testing (in case of asymptomatic patients) and no fever for three consecutive days," as per the guidelines.

The patient and his contacts shall strictly follow the current guidelines of home isolation and hygiene etiquette while in home quarantine.

High-risk contacts of COVID-19 patients will be home quarantined for seven days, the new guidelines said.

"They shall be tested on the 5th to 7th day or immediately if they turn symptomatic and further protocols shall be followed based on their test results," the BMC said.

Building managing committees should ensure supplies of food, medicines and essentials to the families in quarantine, it said.

"Cooperation shall be given to Medical Officers of Health/ Ward War Room staff to implement the existing COVID-19 protocols and containment guidelines," the guidelines read.

De-sealing decisions of the building or wing could be taken at the respective ward level.

Mumbai on Monday reported 8,082 COVID-19 cases, the highest daily count after April 18, 2021, taking the caseload beyond the 8-lakh mark, while two more patients succumbed to the infection, the city civic body said.

Mumbai also reported 40 new cases of the latest coronavirus variant Omicron, pushing the number of such infections to 368 in the metropolis, according to the Maharashtra government's health department.

The number of sealed buildings in the metropolis also showed an exponential growth as their count has surged to 318, though the tally of containment zones in slums and 'chawls' (old row tenements) stood lower at 11.

As cases are rising steadily, the BMC has decided to shut schools of all mediums for classes 1 to 9 and 11 till January 31, a civic official said.

Students of classes 10 and 12 are excluded from this decision which means they can attend schools in person.

Classes for students of 1 to 9 and 11 will continue in online mode, as directed earlier.