Mumbai schools shut as COVID cases spike, online classes to continue

With Mumbai witnessing over 15,000 cases, BMC Commissioner has said that Mumbai schools that were open for physical classes from Monday will go back online. It has been decided that classes till standard 8 will continue with online classes. He further said, "In light of the speed at which Covid-19 cases are growing in Mumbai, the decision to open physical school for classes 1st to 8th grade has been postponed to 31st Jan".

As India begins to vaccinate 15-18 years old from today, students from Class 9th onwards will be allowed to go to school for taking the vaccination. BMC Commissioner Iqbal Chahal said the corporation hopes to vaccinate all the 4.5 lakh children between the ages of 15 and 18 years by the end of the month. Mumbai is witnessing spike in COVID cases as the positivity rate stands at 17%. On Sunday, Jan 2, 2022 Mumbai saw a rise of over 8,000 daily cases.

"We still have 90% hospital beds vacant and percentage of asymptomatic is 91%", he says. 

Omicron variant in Mumbai

Task Force members in Maharashtra now say 80% of new cases being detected are of the Omicron variant and it is expected to replace the Delta over the next few days. Looking at the patterns Omicron has followed in South Africa, Chahal expects this wave to peak and start slowing down in another four weeks. Meanwhile, a call on more restrictions will be taken at the next meeting on the 10th of January.

Even before official announcement few private schools defered reopening

In Mumbai many schools were preparing to reopen after Christmas break. However, there are many private Central Board of Secondary Education, CBSE and ICSE board schools that have decided to defer reopening by a week. These schools have decided this condierring the  safety of children. Earlier, Mumbai schools were asking for parents' consent before welcoming back students for offline classes. Most parents decided not to send their children as Omicron has slowly started replacing Delta variant and with their wards not vaccinated, they believe that it is not ideal for students to be in exposed environment.