The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) on Saturday issued advisory to apartment societies to limit access to visitors and note their personal details as a part of the measures to contain coronavirus.
Pankaj Chakravarty, deputy secretary and state project co-ordinator, ASDMA, told The Telegraph that the advisory had been issued to create awareness among the people regarding Covid-19 and the importance of social distancing.
“The density of people living in apartments is higher, so this advisory has been issued to contain the spread of coronavirus,” he said.
In a letter, Chakravarty directed the deputy commissioners of Kamrup (metro), Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Cachar, Tinsukia, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Nagaon, Sonitpur, Sivasagar, Golaghat, Hojai and Biswanath districts to follow visitors protocol, shut down common activities, ensure cleaning of common premises, mechanism for contact-less delivery and stricter implementation of home quarantine, among others.
A Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority official said there are over 20 lakh people in the Guwahati metropolitan area and 15 to 20 per cent people live in apartments.
The advisories are:
Visitors protocol: All apartment societies shall enforce a visitors protocol, limiting access of outsiders into the apartment. Full details of the visitors shall be maintained, and details shall be entered by any person managing the entrance (security/other arrangement), including travel history, if any.
Home quarantine rule: The managing committee shall collect all relevant information about the health, travel location and duration of all the residents. If any resident has a travel history to Covid-19-affected places or are being advised self-quarantine, the management committee shall ensure the same while maintaining confidentiality and not hurting/disrespecting such residents. Further, if any person is being asked to quarantine self, the management society may consider supporting the home-quarantined person in accessing daily necessities such as groceries and medicines.
All apartment societies shall ensure that any public gathering platform, be it park, swimming pool, fitness centre or common activity centre, are closed and no gathering of people is allowed within the apartment premises.
Hand washing: Each apartment society shall enforce hand washing at the time of entry for all types of visitors and even for the families residing within when they come from outside.
Community events: Apartment societies shall refrain from organising any community, religious or any other event that may require gathering of more than five people at a time.
Cleaning: Apartment societies shall implement cleaning and disinfection measures at least three times a day, particularly for lift buttons, handrails of staircases, gates and grilles and all other such areas within the apartment.
Delivery rule: Apartment society shall take measures to ensure contact-less delivery by placing delivery baskets at the security points.
Domestic help: Apartment societies shall consider discussing with all residents mandatory leave with pay to domestic helps who work at multiple locations.
