MUMBAI:
BMC officials will check on
international passengers on their hotels twice a week when they are in institutional
quarantine to ensure that they don’t escape from or break their quarantine.
The BMC on Tuesday revised the
Standard Operating Protocol (
SOP) for handling international passengers arriving from the UK, Brazil, Europe, South Africa and Middle East into Mumbai. According to BMC rules, passengers arriving from these countries are quarantined in hotels for seven days and then allowed to leave only after they test negative for Covid-19.
However in the recent days, there have been several instances where such passengers go missing from hotels where they are housed for institutional quarantine. So the BMC has revised guidelines for institutional quarantine making it mandatory for its officials to visit the hotels twice during the stay of a particular passenger followed by also maintaining a weekly report of such visits.
"Arrangements should be made by the team of staff assigned for duty outside the airport to take the concerned passengers to the hotels of their choice by BEST buses assigned for the transport of passengers. The driver list of the concerned BEST bus should also be handed over. The concerned BEST bus driver should pick up and drop off the passengers at the hotel of their choice and get the receipt of arrival of the concerned passenger from the hotel. Receipts for delivery of all passengers to the hotel should be handed over to the airport coordinating officer by the BEST bus driver on his return to the airport," the SOP says.
"In case of violation of any rules or norms related to quarantine, the assistant commissioner shall take appropriate and strict action. The concerned Assistant Commissioner should regularly review the functioning of the teams appointed for the inspection of the institutional quarantine hotels.