Omicron rising: These states are likely to close schools again

New Delhi, Dec 25: With the number of Omicron cases rising, many state government are mulling over the idea of closing schools as a precautionary measure.

Many schools across the country had re-opened after a long gap, but this new variant of COVID-19 has made some of the states ponder over the decision on whether to close them down or not.

Looking at the trends, it is likely that Maharashtra and Karnataka are likely to take a decision on schools soon. Delhi which is also reporting a high number of cases has not taken any decision as yet. Schools had opened in Delhi, but had to be shut down owing to rising pollution. On December 18 schools had opened for many classed and on December 27 it would open for class 5 students as well.

Maharashtra's education minister, Varsha Gaikwad had said that the government is monitoring the situation and if the scenario worsens a call would be taken. If the number of Omicron cases continue to increase, then we can announce the closure of schools again she said.

Schools in Maharashtra had opened on December 1. In Mumbai and Pune schools had reopened on December 15.

In Karnataka the state government had asked all educational institutions to postpone all programmes till January 15. This was done after a COVID-19 cluster had been reported in a college recently.

"The education department is monitoring the situation on an hourly basis and won't hesitate to initiate action. If needed appropriate decisions would be taken on conducting examinations also. In exam halls, social distancing is ensured. We are keeping the option of closure of schools open and cancelling examinations in case of a severe spike of COVID cases," Karnataka's primary and secondary education minister, B C Nagesh had said.