Maharashtra schools may shut again if Omicron cases continue to rise

Mumbai, Dec 22: As Maharashtra witnesses a rise in highly-infectious Omicron cases, State School Education Minister has stated that there is no plan to shut schools as of now. It will only be done if the requires so.

"If Omicron cases continue to rise, we may take a call to shut the schools again. We are monitoring the situation," School Education minister Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad told ANI.

No fresh case of Omicron, classified as a 'variant of concern' by the WHO, was reported in the state on Tuesday, keeping the newly discovered strain's tally unchanged at 54.

As many as 28 patients out of 54 who have been found infected with the new coronavirus variant Omicron in Maharashtra so far have been discharged from hospitals.

Since December 1, as many as 1,36,400 travellers have arrived from overseas, including 20,105 from 'at-risk' countries, at airports in the state.

Of these, 23,015 travellers have gone through RT-PCR tests and samples of 115 COVID-19 positive passengers, including 86 from 'at-risk' countries, have been sent for genome sequencing to ascertain if they are infected with Omicron.