Mumbai: Schools for classes 1-7 to reopen from today

Mumbai/Pune, Dec 15: Schools for students of classes 1 to 7 will reopen in Mumbai and Pune this week, over 20 months after they were shut for in-person learning due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent imposition of restrictions, officials said on Tuesday.

These schools will reopen on Wednesday in Mumbai and on Thursday in Pune city.

An order to reopen the schools in the metropolis was issued by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal.

Schools and other educational institutions were closed in March 2020 after the outbreak of the pandemic and later online classes were started for students.

Earlier, the schools for students of primary and middle sections were supposed to reopen in the first week of December (on Dec 1 in Pune and on Dec 4 in Mumbai), but the decision was postponed due to the emergence of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

In Pune, an order to reopen schools on Thursday was issued by Vikram Kumar, commissioner, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).

According to the order, the schools have been asked to follow all COVID-19 protocols, while RT-PCR test has been made mandatory for teachers and non-teaching staff who are not fully vaccinated yet.

The PMC has asked school managements to complete vaccination of their staff.

As of Tuesday, Maharashtra has reported 28 cases of Omicron, including in Mumbai and Pune.