Apartments battling Covid-19: A collective combat in flats

The pandemic posed an unprecedented challenge, and it required an unprecedented response. That meant the State machinery, the healthcare system and citizen groups had to collectively strategise and execute a multi-pronged plan of action. Apartments were the perfect testing ground for this strategy. Did it work?

At first glance, visuals of ‘sealed’ individual flats with Covid-19 positive cases painted a disturbing picture. But beyond these stray episodes of ill-formed, heavy-handed bureaucratic intervention, there was a clear positive: The home quarantine protocols put in place early by apartment collectives helped devise and modify rules when positive cases surfaced.

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“Indeed, the measures are taken to strictly enforce the 14-day home quarantine for people returning from outside the State such as sanitation, and entry checkpoints have helped,” says Vikram Rai from the Bangalore Apartments’ Federation (BAF) governing council. “With positive cases emerging in big numbers, we adopted Covid Affirmative Action plans for apartments.”

Step-by-step guide

Collating data, guidelines and updated protocols, the Federation came out with a step-by-step chart on whom to contact, what to sanitise, home isolation and more. “We also formed a special support WhatsApp group called ‘BAF Positivity Group.’ Over the last one and half months, more than 80 apartment associations have joined the group,” Rai informs.

The objective is to share the collective wisdom of apartments where positive cases have been reported, and maximise the learnings. “It has helped in better preparedness and minimising panic. Yes, there are still many who get disturbed when a positive case is reported within an apartment. The group can help.”

The Federation represents nearly 800 apartments. But there are many outside the Federation’s umbrella, which have resorted to extreme steps. Entire blocks within an apartment complex have been sealed, lifts closed and movement of all sorts banned. Apartment associations have been accused of taking harsh steps without consultations or preparations.

Avoiding panic

The unavailability of ready information on how to deal with a positive case obviously triggered the panic. But the poor linkage with the processes already set in motion complicated matters. There were many cases across the city that had to be addressed quickly.

“There is no reason to be alarmed, on detecting the first Covid positive case in an apartment,” reassures the representative of an apartment association that had tackled it with composure. When the case was detected, the person’s oxygen level was checked with a pulse oximeter that was readily available within the complex. It showed that he was not suffering from breathlessness.

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Preferring anonymity, the representative notes, “It is not scary as some of the videos have portrayed. Even while the patient was in hospital, there was no special treatment. It was only simple isolation, with paracetamol and Netflix!” By ensuring strict social distancing as the new normal, increasing safety measures and building basic immunity among the residents, the apartment concerned managed it well.

Containment protocols

Drafted on the basis of learnings such as these, the guidelines suggest that once a positive case is detected, the Bruhath Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) should be alerted, either through the Primary Health Centres (PHCs) or the concerned ward / zonal officers.

The floor where the patient’s house is located should then be isolated. This should apply to the floor right above and the one immediately below. This containment will be the responsibility of the apartment association since the Palike’s response could get delayed.

To ensure supply of essentials to the residents in isolation, a volunteer group can be formed. As a critical step to avoid direct contact, a basket or any container could be placed at the boundary of the isolated floor. The next step would be to sanitise the entire apartment. If there is any delay by the authorities, the associations might have to step in.

Waste collection

Once a floor is declared a containment zone, the waste will have to be treated only as medical waste. Before the waste is handed over to the Palike, many apartments have shown how they appointed a person, wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to collect the waste from the isolated floors.

Taking another critical step, BAF ventured to set up micro Covid Care Centres (CCCs) within an apartment. These are facilities (vacant flats, club houses) with two to three beds, equipped with clinical equipment, oxygen cylinders, and other basic medical essentials. The idea is to ensure a safe temporary stay before the disease aggravates or subsides.

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But even as the collective’s protocols mature with experience, individual apartment associations have been fine-tuning their own internal processes. Best practices learnt from multiple sources have been put in place quickly, giving associations an upper hand over the pandemic.

Strategy, activation

At the Raja Aristos apartment complex in Doddakammanahalli, for instance, the emergence of a positive case in one of the four blocks on July 18 offered an opportunity to activate a plan. As Rishikesh Kumar Rajak, secretary of the apartment owners’ association recalls, an entire containment strategy was worked out inhouse two days before the BBMP health personnel visited the place.

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The case was reported from a block’s first floor. Since there were no flats on the ground floor, both the first and second floors were sealed. “The patient’s parents were in another block. Their floor was sealed too. To supply essentials to them, a volunteer group was formed to supply essentials such as milk and vegetables,” says Rishikesh.

WhatsApp groups, volunteers

On each floor, those unaffected by the virus but under quarantine had to place a basket near the lift. The volunteer would drop the essential item from inside the lift, without stepping out.

“A WhatsApp group was created exclusively for this. If anyone required anything, the volunteers would deliver them in three shifts, 10 am to 12 noon, 1 pm to 4 pm and from 7 pm to 9 pm.” This process worked well for both essentials and e-commerce deliveries. The waste collection process was also streamlined. Sporting PPE kits, the house-keeping staff had to first sanitise the bins, segregate the waste and keep them separately for the BBMP to collect later. The association ensured that the workers followed all safety protocols, recalls Rishikesh.