BMC chief advocates ''work-from-home'' to Mumbai companies in Coronavirus awareness post

In view of the coronavirus outbreak, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) chief Praveen Pardeshi on Sunday took to social media and issued a warning to all companies to initiate ''work-from-home'' wherever possible. "We highly advise companies to initiate work-from-home policies. If necessary, we will make this mandatory in the days to come," Pardeshi said in an interview with social media platform 'Humans of Bombay'.

'All measures under the Epidemic Act are in effect'

"I’m the Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai & I want to use this opportunity to talk about the COVID-19 situation in Maharashtra,” read a post from Humans of Bombay on its Facebook and Instagram page. “All measures under the Epidemic Act are in effect. A lockdown has been initiated by the closure of schools, colleges, theatres, malls, pools & gyms,” Pardeshi said.

"For passengers from high-risk countries, quarantine norms will be applicable for those showing symptoms. Those without symptoms will mandatorily be home-quarantined for 14 days with follow-up calls to ensure they are not carriers," Pardeshi added.  The BMC also plans to increase its testing capabilities from existing 200 tests daily to more at different public hospitals and expand the facilities at private hospitals, informed the BMC chief. 

'We will get through this together'

He called upon all to exercise hygiene, avoid spreading rumours and maintain calm - "We will get through this together". The number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in India has gone up to 110, according to the Health Ministry. Maharashtra with 32 confirmed cases has the highest number in the country.

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The state government has ordered the closure of educational institutions, theatres, malls, parks, swimming pools, gymnasiums etc to stop the spread of coronavirus. On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and discussed the state’s preparedness to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.

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The telephonic conversation between the two leaders was centred on the efforts by the state and the Centre to tackle the coronavirus case. During the telephonic talks, the Maharashtra Chief Minister informed Prime Minister Modi about the measures taken by his government in the state.

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(With agency inputs)