COVID-19: Maharashtra schools to reopen on July 1 for classes IX-XII in non-red zone areas

A circular issued on Monday stated that in the containment zones, schools will not be opened yet but online classes will have to be started.
Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray (File photo| PTI)
Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray (File photo| PTI)

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government on Monday announced to open schools for classes IX, X and XII in non-red zone areas from July 1. The decision was taken at a meeting held by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray with the education minister and education department officials.

From sixth to eighth standard, classes will resume from August and for third to fifth standard, schools will open in September. A decision on opening the schools for first and second standards will be taken by the school managements according to local ground-level situation.  For the 11th standard, classes will start after the Class X board examination results.

A circular issued on Monday stated that in the containment zones, schools will not be opened yet but online classes will have to be started.

For first and second standards, there will be no e-learning. But the schools and parent can use audiovisual medium like radio and TV for their education.

The circular says that before opening, the schools should be cleaned and sanitised properly. The teacher will work on odd-even basis. Maximum 30 students will be allowed in a class and one-metre distance between two students should be maintained. Mask will be mandatory for all and the student’s temperature will have to be regularly checked. The students will bring their own food, water and books.

Meanwhile, the state on Monday reported 178 more COVID-19 deaths, the highest spike in a single day including 68 from worst-hit Mumbai, taking the number of fatalities to 4,128, a Health official said.

With 2,786 new detections, the total number of cases has jumped to 1,10,744, the official said.

In a kind of relief, record 5,071 patients were discharged in a single day, leading to the overall count surpassing the number of active cases in the state for the first time.

"While the number of active cases stands at 50,554, the count of the people discharged after complete recovery stands at 56,049," the official said.

Of the 178 fatalities, 68 patients were from Mumbai, 20 from Vasai Virar, 14 from Pune, 13 each from Dhule and Mira Bhayandar, 12 each from Navi Mumbai and Thane city, nine from Kalyan Dombivli, three from Jalgaon, two each from Solapur and Jalna.

One death each was reported from Palghar, Raigad and Ratnagiri, he said.

"Of the 178 deaths, 29 have been occurred in last two days while the rest 149 casualties had occurred earlier," the official said.

As of Monday, Mumbai accounts for 59,293 cases with 2,250 deaths, he said.

Thane division, which includes Mumbai, now has 82,433 cases while the fatality count stands at 2,873, he said.

Pune division has so far reported 15,060 cases with 655 deaths, out of which Pune city's case count is 10,516 and 450 fatalities, he said.

Kolhapur division has so far reported 1,566 cases and 32 deaths while Nashik division has 4,534 cases with 291 deaths, he said.

The number of cases in Aurangabad division is 3,390 and fatalities 147.

Latur division has 647 cases with 25 deaths, he said.

Akola division has so far reported 1,745 cases and 71 deaths while Nashik division accounts for 1,280 cases and 14 fatalities, the official informed.

A total of 89 COVID-19 patients from other states have so far received treatment in Maharashtra.

20 of them have died, he added.

There are 5,89,158 people who are under home quarantine while 28,084 people are under institutional quarantine, he said.

97 laboratories in the state have so far tested 6,69,994 samples, 1,10,744 of which have found positive, the official said.

Maharashtra COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 1,10,744, new cases 2,786, deaths 4,128, discharged people 5,071, active cases 53,017, people tested so far 6,69,994.

(With PTI Inputs)

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