The decision on reopening of schools in Mumbai and surrounding areas will be taken next week, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said today. The Maharashtra govt yesterday said it had allowed reopening of schools from October 4. Pednekar said, several factors need to be considered before coming to a conclusion on the matter.“A final decision will be taken next week by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The state government has allowed reopening of schools, but it has also left it on the local authorities for execution of the decision,” the mayor added.
Earlier, in the day, Maharashtra government announced reopening of cinema halls and drama theaters in the state from October 22 on the condition that they comply with all the norms required to contain the spread of coronavirus. Speaking at a meeting of the COVID-19 task force, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said the state government will soon issue the standard operating procedure (SOPs) in this regard. The meeting was also attended by Shiv Sena's Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut, state chief secretary Sitaram Kunte, filmmakers Rohit Shetty and Kunal Kapoor, theatre personality Makarand Deshpande, Marathi actors Subodh Bhave, Aadesh Bandekar, among others. The decision comes a day after Chief Minister's Office (CMO) announced that all religious places in the state will be allowed to open for the public from October 7. On Friday, Mumbai registered 446 new Covid-19 cases and six related deaths. Across the state, the figures were 3,286 new infections and 51 fatalities, taking the overall caseload to 65,37,843 and death toll to 1,38,776, respectively.