Cases climb, sealed buildings dip!

Even as the number of new cases reported daily continues to rise, in just a single day, the number of sealed buildings and containment zones is down, by 85 and 78 per cent respectively.

According to civic officials, the number of sealed buildings and CZs keep fluctuating, depending on the number of cluster cases reported and it is a continuous process.

As per the data shared by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), there were 815 active sealed buildings in the city as of February 22, but on February 23, this number drastically dropped to 124, a decline of 84.90 per cent. As for containment zones, there were 51 on February 22, which dropped to 11 the following day, a decline of 78.43 per cent.

Last week, the number of sealed buildings/floors had gone up to 1,305 on February 19 from 321 on February 18, an increase of almost 75 per cent, while in the same period, the number of containment zones (congested areas/ slums) increased to 93 from 57. This week, there is a dramatic decline in this count.

On Februar y 24, the city reported 1,167 new Covid-19 cases, crossing the 1,000+ mark af ter almost three months. Naturally, activists are wondering how such a large number of sealed buildings and containment zones were released in a single day. "The decline in the number of sealed buildings and containment zones indicate recover y of cases detected in a particular building or area, which is a good sign. However, releasing around 700 buildings in a day isn't believable. Had this happened over a week, it would still be believable. The number of cases is on a rise," pointed out Namdev Jhala, a social activist and a teacher.

Additional Municipal Commissioner (Health) Suresh Kakani said that sealed buildings and containment zones are only removed from the list af ter the cases detected there have fully recovered and no new cases are reported from the premises in a span of 14 days.

"The number of sealed buildings and containment zones will keep fluctuating, as it is a continuous process. When five or more cases are reported from a building or area, we seal them and mark them as active sealed buildings or containment zones. However, between ever y fortnight to a maximum of 20 days, there are recoveries too, when we release these areas sealed by us," said Kakani. He added, "Also, sometimes, if cases are reported in many buildings/ wings of a complex, we seal the complex and count it as containment zone and not a sealed building. This too impacts the overall count."