Mumbai on guard against new strain of Coronavirus

Mandatory institutional quarantine for passengers from UK, Europe and Middle East

geetanjali

Geetanjali Minhas | December 22, 2020 | Mumbai


#Covid-19   #Novel Coronavirus   #healthcare   #Maharashtra   #Mumbai   #BMC   #MCGM   #United Kingdom   #aviation  
Screening at airports (file photo)
Screening at airports (file photo)

As a new strain of the Novel Coronavirus, several times more contagious, has started spreading rapidly in the UK, India wasted no time in responding to the threat, as it suspended the flights from that country till the yearend. Maharashtra, among the most affected states, too has taken a slew of precautionary measures and re-imposed night curfew. Mumbai city too has made institutional quarantine mandatory for passengers from UK, Europe and Middle East.

The curfew, from 11 pm to 6 am, in urban areas of the state starts from Tuesday. On Sunday, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said wearing the mask was mandatory for next six months in the state.

With the distinct phylogenetic cluster of SARs-CoV-2 (called lineage 8.1.1.7) having being detected and spreading rapidly in the UK, India has suspended all flights originating there from the midnight of December 22 till the midnight of December 31.

Issuing directives under the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 and The Disaster Management Act 2005, the municipal corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) on Tuesday issued guidelines for all international passengers arriving from the UK directly or through indirect flights and those arriving from Middle East and European countries at Mumbai International Airport. These passengers will have to undergo mandatory institutional quarantine at their own cost in the nearby hotels for seven days.

As per the guidelines issued by municipal commissioner, Iqbal Singh Chahal, if passengers arriving from the UK are found symptomatic on arrival, they will be directly shifted to the Seven Hills Hospital for further evaluation and treatment. Those arriving from Middle East and European countries, if found symptomatic, will be directly shifted to GT Hospital, Fort, for evaluation and treatment.  

While no RT-PCR test will be conducted on arrival of passengers from the UK, Europe and Middle East, between day 5 and day 7, these passengers will have to go through an RT-PCR test at the hotel at their own cost. If the test report is found negative, the passenger will be discharged from the institutional quarantine but will have to be under mandatory home quarantine for seven days.

Those testing positive and symptomatic will continue to be under quarantine in the same hotel or in a Covid-19 Hospital for 14 days. Private laboratories are being linked to quarantine hotels for testing of arriving passengers. The collector of Mumbai Suburban district will be in charge of monitoring of operations and accordingly depute suitable teams.

All passengers will be required to deposit their passports with the hotel during the quarantine period and will receive the same back at the time of discharge. BEST will transport all passengers coming from the UK by direct or indirect flights to hotels. PPE kits are being provided to Mumbai airport employees and immigration officers.

An estimated 800 rooms have been set aside from Monday for passengers arriving from the UK and almost 4,000 rooms on a daily basis will be needed for those arriving from Middle East and Europe. The charges will be borne by the passengers.  

“Irrespective of their further plans government guidelines will have to be followed by all passengers arriving at Mumbai International Airport from UK, Europe and the Middle East,” says the order.
 

Comments

 

Other News

Revamp BMC Engineering Department for better governance, says think tank

Calling for reforms in the Engineering Department of BMC, Mumbai Vikas Samiti, a not-for-profit organisation has said that less than optimum performance of Engineering Function has added to the woes of citizens and deterioration in the quality of life in the metro. In its recently released r

NGO hails Maharashtra move to amend Insecticide Act

Hailing the Maharashtra government for introducing a bill to amend the Insecticide Act, 1968, Pesticide Action Network (PAN) India has called the amendments ‘very  focussed’ and urged the state to expand their scope to address other challenges. The bill, introduced in the a

‘Garba of Gujarat’, now a Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage

`Garba of Gujarat` has been inscribed in the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity by UNESCO, under the provisions of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage during the 18th meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of t

Cyber frauds helpline has helped save Rs 930 crore

Since its inception, Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System has witnessed more than 12.77 lakh complaints registered (till November 15, 2023), and has saved more than Rs. 930 crore in more than 3.80 lakh complaints. This was stated by minister of state for home affair

COP28 discusses climate resilient development in Himalayas

Impacts and implications of Climate Change Vulnerability in the Himalayan Region and ways of creating ‘Climate Resilient Development in Indian Himalayan Region by making mountain communities green and resilient were discussed the side event hosted at the India pavilion at the UN Climate Conference CO

Air Pollution: What needs to be done to tame the silent killer

Air pollution in Delhi has been in headlines, as every year in recent times. Mumbai too has suffered from air pollution, despite being a coastal city. Apart from many other metros such as Bangalore and Kolkata, tier-I and -II cities and rural areas also have high pollution levels. Every year reports and st

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter