Even as there has been a drastic increase in the number of cases reported across the city in the last few weeks, there has been a decline in the number of restricted or sealed buildings. This is said to be the result of the modified sealed building guidelines released by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on January 3 and 4, as the number of cases started surging rapidly.
As per the modified protocol on January 3, an entire building or a wing of a building complex or a housing society will be sealed if Covid cases are found in more than 20 per cent of the occupied flats in that building or the wing of the building complex or society. On the following day, the civic body added that apart from this, if a building has at least 10 cases detected in the affected flats, it will lead to that building being sealed. The revision was made by the BMC considering problems faced while sealing smaller buildings with lesser number of floors and flats.
As per the old protocol issued at the peak of second wave of the pandemic, the entire floor of a building used to be sealed if five cases were detected. The entire building used to be sealed if more than five cases were found.
The modified guidelines came into effect from January 4, 2022.
The number of sealed buildings across the city stood at 17 on December 25, jumping to 88 on December 30, 2021. As the uptick in cases began, so did the number of sealed buildings. On January 1, 2022, the number of sealed buildings increased to 157, which further jumped to 389 and 462 on January 4 and January 5 respectively.
“The increase in the number of sealed buildings points to multiple/cluster cases or more than five cases being detected in the same building /wing, proving rapid transmission or spread of the virus once again. This was also a result of residents acting carelessly even as cases started increasing,” said Grant Road resident Viraj Mathur, a social activist.
With the implementation of the modified guidelines of sealing a building if 10 or more cases are detected in its premises, the number of sealed buildings has been declining. As of January 7, the number of sealed buildings dropped to 123, dropping a bit further to 120 on January 8. This number went back to 123 on January 9 and jumped to 168 the next day and then dramatically fell to 63 on January 11.
However, BMC officials claimed that despite modified guidelines, on their part, they have left no loose ends. “Ward offices have been on their toes, even when the number of cases were on a decline, to ensure there was no fresh outbreak. Stringent containment strategies are being followed since April 2020 and there has been no leniency in it, that is why we were and are able to get a grip on the number of cases. The decline in number of sealed buildings will not affect the containment strategy in any away,” said a senior BMC official.
Number of sealed buidlings
DECEMBER 25 : 17
DECEMBER 30 : 88
JANUARY 1 : 157
JANUARY 5 : 462
JANUARY 6 : 502
JANUARY 7 : 123
JANUARY 8 : 120
JANUARY 9 : 123
JANUARY 10 : 168
JANUARY 11 : 63
