In Mumbai, civic staff lock up an entire housing society of 18 buildings

Fed up that individual residents of Navjivan Cooperative Housing Society in Mumbai Central were not adiding by the COVID-19 drill, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) locked up the entire complex of 18 buildings

Some 60 corona positive cases have been detected in the society in the past day. Until now, the BMC had been trying to manage the situation by sealing off individual buildings that reported positives. Its patience ran out on Friday.

Navjivan is a 50-year-old society. Most of its 18 buildings are 11 storeys high and 17 of the 18 buildings within the complex are residential. One houses offices.

Navjivan is home to thousands of families. With more than 12 gates, it is a handful for the municipality to manage COVID containment.

Mumbai currently has more than 22000 active cases of coronavirus infection. More than 6,000 buildings and 691 areas in the city are sealed off as containment zones.