Amid rising COVID-19 cases, the Maharashtra government on Monday has issued new guidelines for micro-containment zones.
All vehicular movement, movement of public transport and movement of people will be strictly restricted within and outside the micro-containment zones, the order said.
Moreover, if the residents living in micro-containment zones display non-compliance with COVID appropriate behaviour, a fine of Rs 10,000 collectively may be levied on them.
What are micro-containment zones?
Micro Containment Zone (MCZ) means any delineated area so declared by local disaster management authority (DMA).
Any Cooperative Housing Society having more than 5 COVID-19 positive cases (who are present in the Housing Society/Building) will be declared as a micro containment zone, the government order said.
1. Perimeter Control
a. Local DMA to put up a sign outside MCZ declaring it to be so in a way that it is clearly visible to all. All ingress and egress must have this sign.
b. Local DMA shall establish clear entry and exit points for MCZ. No other routes can be used for entry and exit.
c. There will be strict perimeter control in place to ensure that there is no outward or inward unchecked movement from and to MCZ except for medical or other emergencies.
d. DMA can put m more restriction in MCZ compared to other areas of their jurisdiction and may curtail list of essential services and goods for these MCZ.
e. DMA will also control ingress of external persons into the containment zone, allowing only for:
i. Garbage Collection and Cleaning Staff (Garbage of the house hav· • . 1ng positive cases to be collected and disposed separately as per the guidelines of the local authority).
ii. Milk Medicine and other essential products delivered through e-commerce to be delivered at a common place like the lobby or main entrance of the CHS. This common place being visited by outside delivery persons must be sanitized frequently.
iii. Outside maids, domestic helps, drivers etc. may be disallowed by DMA, even if these are allowed in general in their respective jurisdiction. These may be allowed however if these are residents within the same MCZ and do not commute outside MCZ.
iv. Private Security Services may be allowed to commute in and out, however they should be given PPE by the society while being on the campus. These personnel may interact with delivery persons in PPE only. DMA may put further restriction on these if so desired.
v. Swimming pools, gyms and common areas shall be strictly closed within the MCZ.
vii. Services related to medical requirements of the pet animals in the housing society are essential services. DMA may declare specific regulations of the same.
f. All vehicular movement, movement of public transport and personnel movement will be strictly restricted within and outside the MCZ. Details of all persons moving out of the micro containment zone to recorded by the MCZ Security/ any person assigned for the same by the CHS management committee or DMA.
g. The above will be the joint responsibility of the local administration and the Managing Committee of the CHS. The local authority may constitute multiple local task forces which may involve the medical officer, Police and other relevant authorities.
h. In cases where DMA is of the opinion that spread of Covid 19 has arisen due to default of the residents of MCZ in following Covid Appropriate Behaviour, it may order recovery of all the expenditure born by it in enforcing these constraints from the residents or societies of MCZ, over and above any fine that it may decide to levy considering the seriousness of the default. DMA is also allowed to standardize this cost in generality and then levy over and above it in exceptional cases.
2. Activities to be carried out in the notified Micro Containment Zone
a) Local Authorities must publicise declarations of all MCZs and their boundaries.
b) The society shall make hand sanitizer, temperature measuring devices etc. available at the entrance of the society.
c) Lifts and elevators should be sanitised frequently.
d) Testing of all symptomatic/ suspected cases/ high risk cases must be done as per protocol.
e) Clinical Management of all confirmed cases must be done strictly as per protocol. DMA or resident societies of MCZ should decide on-the medical professionals who will give tele-consultation periodically to patients that are home-quarantined inside MCZ.
f) Physical distancing /home isolation/ home quarantine must be enforced strictly.
g) Local DMA may add provisions to the said SOP as per local conditions, either in generality or for particular MCZ.
h) Surrounding area of the society should be cleaned daily and sanitization of this area should be done on regular basis.
i) It will be the joint responsibility of the local DMA and the MCZ residents to ensure that all of the above are strictly adhered to. DMA may ask MCZ residents to specifically perform some tasks if it is of the opinion that these tasks are needed for containment of Covid 19 spread.
3. Penalties
If DMA is of the opinion that there is wilful default on residents of the MCZ leading to the declaration of MCZ it may levy a fine on residents that may collectively go up Rs. 10000/- if residents continue to display non-compliance Covid Appropriate Behaviour, DMA may levy such further exemplary fines as it deems fit.
4. De- Notifying of Micro Containment Zones
A locality can be de-notified as a Micro Containment Zone by the local DMA after 10 days of it being notified subject to no new cases being found positive in the CHS in the last 5 days. Till de-notified specifically, MCZ shall continue as such.
