People who have returned to the city recently from listed foreign countries with rampant coronavirus outbreak will have to home quarantine themselves for the next 14 days without fail. In case they are found to be negligent of this regulation, and roaming free outside, they will be shifted to the designated government quarantine facilities forthwith, officials informed.
Already, details of over 750 people, who have returned from these countries to the city, have been made available to the district administration by the Immigration officials. The countries include China, South Korea, France, Italy, Iran, Germany, Spain, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman. A total of 150 three-member teams, one for each ward in GHMC area, will visit the homes of all foreign returnees every day, to make them aware about the spread of COVID-19 and also to check upon the persons concerned.
The teams will have members drawn from Health, GHMC and Police departments, officials informed. The Revenue department too was roped in initially, but it had to be exempted owing to the existing work load.
“Though details of foreign returnees since January 15 have been collected, the focus of the visiting teams will be mainly on those returning within the last 15 days. They need to be monitored on a daily basis,” said an official unwilling to be identified.
While the practice adopted by Maharashtra to stamp the left hand of all those under home quarantine is not under consideration here, implementation of the home isolation will be strictly watched over.
In case any of the foreign returnees or their family members present with symptoms of COVID-19, home quarantine will not be an option for them. They will be immediately shifted to the designated quarantine facilities.
If no symptoms are present, such persons will be allowed free after 14 days of watch. While officials are unwilling to disclose details about locality-wise distribution of the identified persons, they said concentrations are high in a few areas, up to 100 to 150, which could put more pressure on certain teams in terms of daily visits. “We will continue to get updates about latest returnees from the Immigration, and take necessary action accordingly,” informed the official.
