But spike in suburbs makes residents wary

Almost every housing society across the city has barred the entry of domestic help and other household staff on their premises, despite the state government relaxing certain lockdown norms. Now, with the rising number of cases in the suburbs, it does not appear that these services are likely to be resumed in the near future.

"We are not allowing domestic help to enter. There are 270 flats in my society and most of us are against the idea," said Karan Jotwani, a resident of Serenity Complex, Oshiwara, and cofounder of the Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens Association (LOCA).

LOCA has nearly 500 residential buildings and housing societies across Andheri-Oshiwara under its belt. This area is currently a Covid-19 hotspot, with more than 2,100 active cases.

"It's not only about house help, we have restricted all manner of housekeeping staff, including drivers. We are not allowing drivers inside the building. Car-owners in our societies are required to drive the car till the gate and only from there do the drivers take over," Jotwani explained.

Borivli resident Ashish Mehta said, in their society, only resident helpers would be allowed to stay, those coming in for a few hours in the day would not be allowed.

"We will only allow housekeeping staff who will remain with the family 24 hours of the day. We will not allow daily workers who work in several flats, because there is a high risk of infection," said Mehta, who is also the secretary of Aura Biplex Housing Society.

"After July 10, we may allow daily helpers in our building. Also, we have our own quarantine facility inside the society premises and, if require, we may keep them in isolation, as well," added Mehta.

Echoing Mehta's statement, Poisar resident Amber Malik said, had there been no surge in the number of cases in suburbs, they would have allowed daily helpers to come in. "We live in a standalone building and it was sealed after two cases were found last week. We are not allowing any outsiders because there is a high risk the infection will spread," said Malik, adding, “Many housing societies lifted this restriction as lockdown rules were relaxed, only to have cases rise. We won't walk that path because the safety of our residents is paramount."