If Omicron Cases Rise Maharashtra May Decide To Close Schools Again

If Omicron cases rise Maharashtra may decide to shut its schools again the School Education minister Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad has said.

India has so far a little over 200 reported cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. On Tuesday, Maharashtra recorded 11 new infections of the new variant which took the tally of such cases in the state to 54. Currently, Mumbai and Delhi are the two states with a maximum number of reported cases. Omicron is considered three times more transmissible than the Delta variant which wreaked havoc during the second wave of COVID-19.

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 to ANI.

On the other hand, the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) released the dates for this year’s class 10, 12 and state board examinations. The offline exams for Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) will commence from March 4 to March 30. The examinations for Secondary School Certificate (SSC) will take place between March 15 and April 24. The exams will be conducted in two shifts. 10,30 am to 2 pm in the morning and 3 pm to 6.30 pm in the evening.

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Pune also saw a sharp rise in the number of new Covid-19 cases reporting 202 infections compared to 93 on the previous day as per the data published by the Health Department of Pune Zila Parishad.

As per reports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting to review the COVID-19 situation in the country on Thursday.

Reopening of schools and moving to offline classes has received mixed reactions from parents and the omicron variant has only raised the fear among parents. They do not want to take a chance given there has been no mass-scale vaccination drives that have been rolled out for children below 18 in the country.