PUNE Barely two days after schools reopened following the Christmas break, the district administration in Pune announced on Tuesday that offline classes will once again be shut for Class 1 to 8, till January 30.
These classes will instead resume online from Wednesday in Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and the rest of the district, said deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, after reviewing the Covid situation in Pune on Tuesday.
The schools restarted for the first time on December 16, and there was then a winter break for most.
The latest decision was taken as Covid-19 cases have been increasing in Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and rural parts of the district.
As of Tuesday Pune district reported 1,649 new Covid-19 cases and five deaths due to the infection.
“The offline classes for standards 1 to 8 will remain shut as the number of new cases continue to increase each day. As students from Class 9 onwards are eligible to get the vaccine under the 15-18 age group category we have offline classes as it will be easier to give them the shots. However, the younger students are not yet eligible for vaccination and so we have taken this decision to shut offline classes for Classes 1 to 8,” Pawar said during a press conference after the meeting.
Pawar also said that the decision was taken after communication with Mumbai civic commissioner IS Chahal who also announced that classes in Mumbai for primary and secondary classes would remain shut. “I have also spoken to ICMR chief Dr Balram Bhargava who approved of the decision now that the positivity rate of the district is hovering around 18-20%. There are predictions that the number of Covid-19 cases could explode in the coming days,” said Pawar.
{{/usCountry}}Pawar also said that the decision was taken after communication with Mumbai civic commissioner IS Chahal who also announced that classes in Mumbai for primary and secondary classes would remain shut. “I have also spoken to ICMR chief Dr Balram Bhargava who approved of the decision now that the positivity rate of the district is hovering around 18-20%. There are predictions that the number of Covid-19 cases could explode in the coming days,” said Pawar.
{{/usCountry}}The decision is also applicable to rural areas as most teaching staff in rural areas commute to and from the city to nearby villages, which means they could be potential spreaders, said Pawar.
In the last two days since the central government approved the Covid-19 vaccination for teenagers aged between 15-18, Pune has been outperforming most districts. On the first day, Monday, close to 21,000 got Covaxin, of which 14,899 are from Pune rural.
On Tuesday up until 5:30 pm at least 26,000 got the vaccine of which 19,000 are from rural areas of the district.