Boom in COVID-19 cases forces Mumbai to shut schools until January 31

The BMS has brought down the shutters once more on schools in the city, with the exception of Classes X and XII
Representational image (Picture: Express)
Representational image (Picture: Express)

Amid the rapid spread of COVID-19 and Omicron infections, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday, January 3, has shut all schools from Class I to IX and Class XI. Classes X (SSC) and XII (HSC) will not be closed, considering the crucial Board examinations that are due to start a month later. However, BMC Commissioner IS Chahal said that despite schools being closed for the other classes, the online classes will continue as in the past for all students.

The move came barely a couple a few weeks after the BMC and State Government took the decision to reopen schools that have been shut since March 14, 2020, with only online classes permitted in stages in October and December 2021, as the effects of the first and second waves of the COVID pandemic subsided.

Classes VIII to XII were allowed to resume from October 4, and on December 15, the remaining — Classes I to VII — also started functioning offline, with a majority of the students turning up in schools. With the possible start of the third wave now, the Education Department discussed the measures, keeping in mind health and safety aspects, before deciding to close all physical classes from Classes I to IX and Class XI, till January 31. School authorities rue that many had discontinued full-fledged online classes as students started attending the classes physically in large numbers with full COVID protocols implemented.

Presently, Mumbai is the worst hit, in terms of both COVID-19 and its variant Omicron's cases in the past couple of weeks. COVID cases are jumping up by a few thousand daily in the state that also leads in the Omicron tally, with 328 infected so far. However, the death rate remains low.

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