Maharashtra government has decided to put the GR on reopening of schools on hold.
The decision to reopen more classes was announced last week. As per the, an official release physical lectures for Classes 5 to 7 were scheduled to start in rural areas from August 17. Lectures for Classes 8 to 12 are already being held in most rural areas and the GR had stated that the lectures for Classes 8 to 12 can resume in urban areas.
Notably, the state task force on the COVID-19 pandemic had advised against reopening schools offline. Thus, today after the meeting between Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte and Task Force, the decision to open physical lectures was put on hold.
However, schools may open on a pilot basis in districts with zero COVID-19 cases.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra on Wednesday reported 5,560 new coronavirus cases and 163 fatalities including the highest 69 in the Pune region, while 6,944 patients were discharged from hospitals, a health department official said.
The caseload in the state thus rose to 63,69,002, while the death toll reached 1,34,364, he said.
On Tuesday the state had reported 5,609 new cases and 137 fatalities.
The number of recovered coronavirus patients increased to 61,66,620 on Wednesday, leaving the state with 64,570 active cases.
Maharashtra's case recovery rate now stands at 96.82 per cent and the fatality rate at 2.1 per cent.
At 811, Ahmednagar reported the highest number of new infections among districts.
Of the eight administrative regions, the Pune region reported the highest 2,342 new cases, followed by 1,143 cases in the Kolhapur region.
The Mumbai region reported 791 cases, Nashik region 943, Latur region 255, Aurangabad region 42, Akola region 31 and Nagpur region 13 cases.
Of 163 fatalities, the highest 69 deaths were reported from the Pune region, followed by 35 in the Kolhapur region.
Mumbai region reported 25 deaths due to COVID-19, Nashik region 24, Aurangabad region one, Latur region seven, Akola region two. The Nagpur region did not report a single COVID-19 death.
Mumbai city saw 285 new COVID-19 cases and nine deaths. Pune city reported 667 new infections and seven fatalities.
With 2,11,041 samples tested during the day, the number of coronavirus tests conducted so far climbed to 5,01,16,137.
A total of 4,01,366 people are in home quarantine in Maharashtra while 2,676 are in institutional quarantine.
Coronavirus figures of Maharashtra are as follows: Total cases 63,69,002, New cases 5,560, Total deaths 1,34,364, New deaths 163, Total recoveries 61,66,620, Active cases 64,570, New tests conducted 2,11,041.
(With inputs from PTI)
