The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner, Iqbal Singh Chahal, and Pune Municipal Corporation Mayor, Murlidhar Mohol, have said that the schools in the two cities will now reopen from December 15. Remember, both these cities experienced the horrors of COVID-19 the most in the state as the number of COVID positive patients spun out of control and hospitals ran out of bed. Another such city was Nashik. Following the line of caution like Mumbai and Pune, the Nashik Municipal Corporation authorities have also postponed the reopening of schools to December 10.

However, according to the earlier announcement by the School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad, schools in the rest of Maharashtra are likely to reopen on December 1 — for Class I to V in the rural areas and for Class I to VII in the urban areas with COVID protocols in place.

Preparing for the worst
The BMC is tracking all passengers who have arrived in the city from the twelve Omicron-hit nations to detect if any of them are infected by the new strain. The state government has also sought information on all passengers landing at the three international airports in the state in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur, besides those arriving from other states, by flights originating from the twelve nations.

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Major cities and district health authorities in the state are gearing up for Omicron by keeping hospitals, beds, ICUs, liquid medical oxygen stocks, medicines, doctors, para-medical and non-medical staff, and other health infrastructure ready to cater to a possible patient rush in the coming weeks, even as COVID-19 vaccination drive has gained momentum.