MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government on Friday announced reopening of all religious places from October 7 in the state with Covid-19 protocols. However, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who made the announcement, urged people not to drop guard in view of a possible third wave of the pandemic.
“All religious places will be opened from October 7 in the state. The Maharashtra government has prepared itself for a third wave, but with all precautions, the state is allowing relaxations in various activities,” he said.
The CM said though infections are declining in the state the threat persists. “While religious places are going to be opened, people still need to wear face masks and use hand sanitizers. The management of religious places will be responsible for implementation of such measures,” the CM said.
For long, the opposition BJP had been demanding reopening of places of worship. Meanwhile, five districts in the state continue to report a high weekly positivity rate against the state average of 2.28 per cent. These are Ahmednagar with 4.78 per cent positivity, Pune with 4.62 per cent positivity, Sangali with 3.97 per cent positivity, Sindhudurg with 3.46 per cent and Osmanabad with 3.40 per cent positivity rate.
Schools to reopen from October 4
Maharashtra has decided to reopen schools from October 4 in a phased manner. For rural areas classes 5 to 12 will resume in physical form and in urban areas classes 8th to 12th will start.