Omicron threat: Mumbai's BMC issues SOPs for international travellers, to call home quarantined passengers 5 times a day
The updated rules come as 14 international flyers from ‘at risk countries’ have tested COVID-19 positive
Arriving passengers leave a terminal at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai. AFP
The Mumbai civic body is taking the Omicron threat very seriously and has updated its rules for travellers coming in from ‘at risk’ countries.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has introduced a very unique and strict home quarantine monitoring mechanism for international passengers arriving from ‘at-risk’ countries.
According to the Standard Operating Procedure, the Mumbai International Airport Ltd will send a list of travellers from 'at-risk' countries to the government every day, following which the civic body will then track all of these passengers.
Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar confirming the same, said, "We're alert about people returning from 'at risk' countries and have prepared an action plan for it. The airport authorities have been directed to inform our disaster control room on arrivals from these countries."
Mumbai's 'ward war room' or WWR team, will then dial people who are home quarantined at least five times a day to monitor their health.
In case a traveller is found breaking the rules, he/she would be booked under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and Epidemic Act, 1897. The municipal corporation issued the detailed guidelines on December 3 to keep track of the health of these travellers.
On Friday, the BMC had mandated seven-day home quarantine of people arriving in the city from high-risk countries amid global concerns over the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
"An RT-PCR test will be conducted after seven days and necessary steps will be taken accordingly," the order added.
The Omicron strain, first detected in South Africa, has been classified as a 'variant of concern' by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The first cases of Omicron variant in India have been confirmed in two individuals in Karnataka.
According to BMC, 14 international travellers from ‘at risk countries’ have tested COVID-19 positive in Mumbai. Their samples have been sent for genome sequencing to check for the Omicron variant.
With inputs from agencies
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