Maharashtra / Maharashtra schools to reopen for classes 8-12 in urban areas from Oct 4

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Friday decided to reopen schools from 4 October, announced state Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad, adding that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has approved the decison. 

The Covid-19 task force and the state health department have also approved the decision of reopening schools in the state,  Gaikwad said.

Schools will reopen in a phased manner. In rural areas, classes will resume for the students of 5 to 12 and in urban areas, for 8 to 12. The Maharashtra government is making efforts to bring back children to schools. The local authorities have also been given powers, she added.

Maharashtra had earlier formed a committee to set guidelines and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the reopening of schools.

The suggested SOPs include staggered school hours, social distancing inside classrooms, setting up school health clinics, among others. Sanitisation of schools, staggered entry of students, wearing masks are among mandatory protocols.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra on Thursday reported 3,320 COVID-19 cases and 61 deaths, which took its infection tally to 65,34,557 and toll to 1,38,725, a health department official said. With 4,050 patients getting discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, the recovery count rose to 63,53,079. 

The state now has 39,191 active cases. The state has 2,61,842 people in home quarantine and another 1,461 in institutional quarantine, the official said. The state's COVID-19 recovery rate now stands at 97.22 per cent, while the fatality rate is 2.12 per cent. 

The cumulative number of coronavirus tests conducted in the state climbed to 5,76,46,515 as 1,70,373 samples were examined in the last 24 hours, he said.