Mumbai Breaking News: According to Maharashtra's health department, no new cases of the Omicron form of coronavirus were recorded on Wednesday. Mumbai recorded 490 infections out of the 1,201 new coronavirus cases in the state, up from 160 the day before. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Mumbai now has 14 sealed buildings (each of which has more than five occupants who have tested positive for coronavirus), but no containment zone in slums and 'chawls' (ancient row tenements) since a few months.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad has said that if Covid-19 instances of the Omicron variety proliferate in the state, schools may be closed again. A parents' group objected to the remark, threatening to hold demonstrations if schools were closed again.
Gaikwad said the state administration is keeping an eye on the issue and said , “If Omicron cases continue to rise, we may take a call to shut down the schools again.”
Following the pandemic's emergence in Mumbai in March 2020, schools were shuttered. While it was originally planned for schools to resume on December 1, that date was pushed back to December 15 owing to the discovery of the Omicron variety.
Parents, on the other hand, questioned the logic of permitting children to go to malls, parties, and vacations but not to school. The organization has urged that children of all grades be allowed to return to school for physical lessons in a petition to the state government signed by over 5,000 parents in Mumbai.
Gayatri Sabharwal, a member of the Mumbai Parents Association and the mother of two pre-primary and primary school-aged children, remarked, “Parents of Mumbai will not accept the closing of schools. In other cities, schools have reopened and are running, why is Mumbai different? Parents should decide if they want to send their children to schools or not. Parents will take to the streets and there will be mayhem if schools are closed.”
Under the title 'Open Schools Now,' the group has been lobbying the authorities to allow private schools to open in Mumbai.
Private schools in the city would return for grades I through VII following the Christmas break, or in January, depending on the number of Omicron cases at that time. In Maharashtra, 65 Omicron cases have been documented thus far.
“The health and safety of students have always been our prime concern. We opened schools for classes VIII-IX following all Covid-19 protocols and are well equipped to open school for other grades too. But with the rise in Omicron cases, the school management is in a dilemma again,” stated Kavita Chatterjee, Principal of Orchids International School in Kurla.
On the first day of school reopening, 27 percent (1,80,640) of the 6,53,239 pupils at BMC-run schools for grades I to VII showed up.
All teaching and non-teaching staff members must be immunized with both doses, according to Covid-19 protocol.
While parents must grant their children permission to attend lessons, they must also ensure that their children's safety and cleanliness are maintained.