Maharashtra / Pune schools, colleges to stay shut till April 30; lockdown decision on April 2

Pune: There will be no lockdown or additional restrictions in Pune district as of now in view of the Covid-19 surge but the curbs already in place will be imposed strictly, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said on Friday.

At a meeting attended by senior bureaucrats and elected representatives from the district, Pawar said the decision about the imposition of a lockdown in the district will be taken in the next meeting scheduled for April 2.

He also added that the closure of schools and colleges has been extended until April 30.

“Next Friday, we will decide if we will have to go into another lockdown. We are not in favour of a lockdown, but the way the situation is worsening, I have received inputs from the medical fraternity as well as public representatives that such a decision may be required to be taken if the cases do not fall in the next five-six days.”

The COVID-19 infection has spread at a very fast rate in the district in the last few weeks, with approximately 7,000 new cases being detected per day. The positivity rate in the district is 24.7 per cent, which is up from 9 per cent in February 2021.

Pawar said that the Class X and Class XII exams will be held despite the decision to close schools and colleges till April 30. “But the school education department will have to take all the precautions while conducting these important exams. We don’t want to postpone them,” said Pawar.

“I urge the public that if they do not want a stringent lockdown in the city, they should follow the rules and take the precautions. Otherwise, we will be forced to make a decision pertaining to lockdown on April 2,” he said.

About the operation of restaurants and bars, he said restrictions already in place on restaurants and bars (10 pm for dine in, 11 pm for food parcelling, 50 per cent of capacity) remain. “But if the situation worsens, we will be forced to close down the dine-in service completely on April 2,” he said.