Nobody should enter or exit sealed buildings, says Iqbal Singh Chahal

Mumbai on Monday reported 333 new cases, taking the total Covid-19 count in the city to 7.43 lakh. Of these, 3,504 are active cases. While the daily positivity rate in Mumbai had been below 0.8 per cent since July 31, it has marginally increased to 1 per cent in the last one week.

Officials said that as a precautionary step, all ward officers have been told to implement Covid-19 norms strictly. In Mumbai, since most curbs related to Covid-19 have been relaxed, many housing societies have been found flouting norms. As per norms, if a building reports five or more cases, it should be sealed. “As anybody could act as a carrier of the virus from these buildings, no one will be allowed to leave. Others like domestic helps and drivers are not allowed to enter till the building is unsealed. Police personnel will be deployed outside the sealed buildings… civic officials have been asked to conduct random checks in these buildings,” said a senior BMC official.

While a housing society in Kandivali West was sealed after 14 cases were reported between August 8 and 21, two buildings were sealed in Pali Hill in Bandra West recently.

According to BMC’s public health department, three factors – increase in daily cases, positivity rate and weekly growth rate – are to be considered for the beginning of the third wave. “If daily cases rise constantly and positivity rate goes up, then it can be considered to be the start of the third wave,” said an official.

“The first deciding factor would be the increase in daily cases, followed by the positivity rate. If daily cases start increasing, we will also ramp up testing capacity,” said Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani. “Duration of the third wave can be told only after analysing the peak and decline of cases,” he added.

The slight increase in daily cases in Mumbai is being attributed to the recent relaxation of curbs in the city, officials said.

“We have to keep a daily watch on the rise in cases. The slight increase is due to opening up (of activities). People who are getting symptoms should immediately go for testing as this will help us in early diagnosis,” said Dr Daksha Shah, Deputy Executive Health Officer from BMC.