First time since pandemic, no building or floor sealed in Mumbai – Times of India

MUMBAI: In a clear indication that the third Covid wave may have passed through Mumbai, the city, as on Tuesday, had no sealed building or floor in any building.
This also officially marks the first time since the pandemic struck in March 2020 that the city has no sealed building or floor.

The BMC rule during the third wave called for an entire building to be sealed only if at least 10 Covid cases are detected in various flats in a small building or more than 20% of the occupied flats have patients in a large society.
The BMC’s Covid dashboard last showed one sealed building in M-East Ward (Deonar, Govandi and Mankhurd) on Monday. Mahendra Ubale, assistant commissioner of M-East Ward, said it has been released too.
Civic data showed since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 66,000 buildings or floors had been sealed and eventually released. During the peak of the third Covid wave in the first week of January this year, when the city reported more than 20,000 cases in a day, the civic body had revised its protocol for sealing of buildings. During the second wave, the BMC rule had stated that an entire building should be sealed if more than 10 cases were found on more than one floor. As cases rose at a rapid pace, this began to inconvenience many, calling for a revision of the rule.
Sandeep Patel, BJP corporator from Goregaon, though, said he does not remember seeing a single sealed building in his ward during the third wave. “The authorities were very lax and would not manage to seal buildings or floors at the right time, hence citizens also were seen taking the sealing protocol very lightly,” said Patel.
BJP corporator Harshita Narwekar from Cuffe Parade said the BMC had a lot of pressure with cases spiralling rapidly. “It did become difficult for the civic body too, to keep up with the sharply rising case numbers. However, they were trying to reach out to as many buildings as they could,” she said.
Swapna Mhatre, BJP corporator from Khar, said sealing of buildings during the first and second waves was diligently done by the authorities to the extent that banners would be placed outside them, indicating that entry to any outsider was barred. Garbage would be collected separately as well.
“However, during the third wave, the restrictions were on paper. Nothing was being implemented in our area at least,” said Mhatre.