Abundant caution is the mantra for housing societies at Malad, Dindoshi

A surge in the number of coronavirus cases in Malad and Dindoshi has pushed the residents in these suburbs to adhere to stricter lockdown measures to keep the dreaded virus at bay.

The areas, which comprise the P-North ward, have reported more than 2,800 active cases, the highest in the entire Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The total number of cases in this ward stands at 4,553.

In the initial days of the Covid-19 pandemic in Mumbai, a large number of cases were from slum pockets, but that scene has changed ever since the state government started its 'Mission Begin Again' to inject some level of normalcy in the city. More cases started coming from highrises and other gated residential buildings.

Alarmed by the virus turning towards them, a number of housing societies in PNorth have imposed voluntary lockdowns on their premises apart from religiously following guidelines issued by the civic body.

"Our society gates are open only twice a day for two hours. We had followed this norm during the initial months of lockdown, however, we relaxed the rules during June as the government began its unlock phase. But seeing cases rise like this, we have scrapped all the relaxations and adapted the conventional lockdown rules," said Hasmukh Patel, a resident of Kailash Chandra CHS, Malad (East).

"Though the markets are operational, yet we have fixed a vendor who is delivering vegetables and groceries inside our society thrice a week. We are not allowing any outsider inside our society and trying to cut down the need to go out as much as we can," said Patel.

Apart from those working with essential service sectors, 15% employees from other government departments and 10% from private firms were recently allowed to work from offices. The unlocking phase, which also saw resumption of BEST buses and local train services, prompted many to go out and resume work.

"We have reached out to all the residents and requested them to ask their employers and allow them to work from home as cases are on the rise in our ward," said Hemant Rao, secretary and resident of Saraswat residency complex, Malad.

"Most of the private firm employees have agreed to it. There are some residents employed with essential sectors like the health department, banks and civic body, who are bound to report to duty. As a result, we are keeping a tab on their health status as well," said Rao.

Most of the societies have procured pulse oximeters to monitor the health condition of their residents. Oximeters are small, hand-held devices that give a fair idea about the oxygen saturation level in a person's blood thus helping detection of symptoms faster. Few societies have also arranged their own fever camps tieing up with NGOs and private doctors.

"Many of the cases are detected late because these patients are asymptomatic. Also P north has a high population density so we are not wasting any time and started our own camps to detect cases at the earliest," said Dr Anil Shinde, a private physician and resident of P-North ward. "The civic body is already conducting tests but being residents if we hold our own fever camps, it will ease the burden on the corporation as well."