Maharashtra reopens school for classes 1-9 from today, Pune schools to remain shut

After experiencing a significant dip in COVID-19 cases, the Maharashtra government has decided to reopen schools for classes 1-9 from today, January 24.

All schools across Maharashtra were asked to shut down in the first week of January due to the increasing Omicron variant cases in the state.

While announcing the reopening of schools, Maharashtra minister Varsha Gaikwad said, “Our SOPs are very strict and clear. We have given four days of advance notice to the management of schools to undertake vaccination and sanitisation and for preparation of time-table. The timing and other necessary decisions will be taken by the local authorities, such as district collector or municipal commissioner based on the local situations.”

Initially, the Mumbai local civic body had announced that schools will be shut till January 31 for Classes 1 to 9 but as per the assessment made by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), it seemed that the Omicron variant had taken a backseat and the curve seemed to be flattening.

Even though Mumbai has decided to reopen schools, cities like Pune and Aurangabad will keep schools shut and continue online classes under the current COVID-19 situation.

On Sunday, Maharashtra reported 40,805 COVID-19 cases and 44 deaths. Mumbai alone reported 2,550 new cases and 13 deaths on Sunday.