Omicron threat: BMC to call home quarantined international travellers 5 times a day

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The BMC has tightened the home quarantine SOPs with five calls per day from the ward war room, vigilance through medical ambulance and compulsory RT-PCR test on the seventh day. All the international passengers coming from at-risk countries have to undergo home quarantine.

The corporation has set SOPs for monitoring and supervision of international travellers arriving in Mumbai.

South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe, the United Kingdom, Brazil China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel are countries at-risk countries. Passengers from SA, Bostwana and Zimbabwe have to undergo seven-day institutional quarantine followed by 7 day home quarantine while others have to undergo home quarantine.

As per the SOPs the ward war room will call the returnees five times a day throughout the quarantine period to ensure that the passengers remained inside their homes. An ambulance and health team will be ready for an onsite visit. Along with that office bearers of the housing societies will be made aware of the passengers.

Any passenger violating the home quarantine protocol shall be liable for legal action under the relevant section of the epidemic Act, 1897 and the Disaster Management Act, 2005. Such passengers will be shifted to mandatory institutional quarantine.

"The corporation has introduced a strict home quarantine monitoring mechanism for international passengers arriving in Mumbai from risk countries. Our objective is to prevent the possible spread of Omicron variant," said Iqbal Singh Chahal, municipal commissioner of the BMC.