Bhopal Jan 31 PTI The Madhya Pradesh government on Monday decided to reopen schools including residential ones with 50 per cent capacity for students of classes 1 to 12 from February 1 as the coronavirus situation appears to be stabilising in the state officials saidThe decision was taken after chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held discussions with medical experts over the prevailing coronavirus situation and the feasibility of reopening schools they saidThe CM himself later tweeted about the governments decisionDiscussions were held with medical experts on the issue of reopening schools Accordingly it has been decided to reopen schools for classes 1 to 12 with 50 per cent attendance including residential ones and hostels Chouhan said in a tweet in HindiAmid a surge in coronavirus cases and emergence of the highly contagious Omicron variant the Madhya Pradesh government had on January 14 issued orders to shut schools for in-person learning for students of classes 1 to 12 and also hostels till January 31Though there is nothing to worry on the pandemic front the administration should continue to ensure COVID-19-appropriate behaviour among citizens and mandatory use of face masks in public places the CM saidThe COVID-19 tally in Madhya Pradesh rose to 959439 on Sunday after detection of 9305 new cases a health department official saidThe death toll increased to 10616 after nine more patients succumbed to the infection he had saidThe positivity rate positive cases per 100 tests decreased slightly to 1149 per cent on Sunday from 1174 per cent the previous day the official had said PTI MAS RSY RSY

Mumbai Dec 30 PTI The new wave of the coronavirus pandemic could be worse than the earlier two waves Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said here on Thursday while appealing people to follow the norms The Maharashtra capital on Wednesday reported 2510 COVID-19 cases a big jump compared to 283 cases on December 20 The new wave could be more terrible therefore Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself was issuing alerts to the states Pednekar told reporters here Earlier variants of the coronavirus infected mostly adults but the latest variant is also infecting children she said Hence it is necessary to be careful she added Appealing people to follow COVID-19-appropriate behavior Pednekar said she herself would be avoiding weddings and other gatherings till the Omicron crisis recedes The civic body has ordered the closing of an illumination show on Bandra Reclamation as it was attracting crowds the Mayor informed PTI KK KRK KRK KRK

New Delhi Dec 24 PTI The third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India may peak by February 3 2022 claims a modelling study by researchers at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur However the forecast is based on the assumption that India will follow the trends of rise in cases seen in many countries globally driven by the Omicron variant of coronavirus The IIT study came even as the government said on Friday that the world is witnessing a fourth surge in COVID-19 cases and cautioned people against lowering the guard particulary during year-end festivities Officials said the predominant strain in India continued to be Delta and urged people to avoid crowding and unnecessary travel while maintaining COVID-19-appropriate behaviour The yet-to-be peer-reviewed study posted on the preprint repository MedRxiv on December 21 used a statistical tool named the Gaussian Mixture model to forecast the third wave In their study the researchers used data from countries such as the US UK Germany and Russia that are already facing the third COVID-19 wave They modelled the daily data of cases in these countries to predict the impact and timeline for the third wave in India The study also used the data from the first and second waves in India considering the number of cases with respect to time The model forecasts Indias third wave of COVID-19 to peak in the beginning of February 2022 The cases start rising around 15 December 2021 and the peak of the third wave will occur on Thursday 3 February 2022 they wrote in the research paper The authors of the study noted that the conclusions are based on the assumptions that a third wave of COVID-19 may hit the country and will follow the trends happening around the world However the researchers noted that the exact peak number of cases cannot be estimated accurately with the study as it did not consider the vaccination data of the population The research team comprised of Sabara ParshadRajeshbhai Subhra SankarDhar andShalabh all from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at IIT Kanpur The authors noted that the vaccination campaign by the union government is a good initiative but it will take some time to reach 100 per cent efficacy In many countries like the US UK Germany Russia themajority of the people have been vaccinated but still they are currently facing the third wave the authors explained So India and other countries have to build up the defences and be prepared for another wave so that it is not as devastating as the earlier ones they added According to the National COVID-19 Supermodel Committee the third wave of COVID-19 is expected to peak in early next year but would be milder than the second wave The members of the committee said last week that daily caseload in India is expected to increase once Omicron starts displacing Delta as the dominant variant India on Friday recorded 122 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in a span of 24 hours the highest so far pushing its tally in the country to 358 Overall the country reported 6650 fresh COVID-19 cases increasing the countrys caseload to 34772626 the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare saidPTI SAR SAR

Mumbai Sep 24 PTI The Maharashtra government on Friday announced reopening of all religious places from October 7 in the state with COVID-19 protocols a move that comes amid indication that the second wave of the pandemic is ebbing Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray who made the announcement urged people not to drop guard and continue COVID-19-appropriate behaviour in view of a possible third wave of the pandemicAll religious places will be opened from October 7 when 9-day Navrati festival starts in the state The Maharashtra government has prepared itself for a third wave but with all precautions the state is allowing relaxations in various activities he said The CM said though infections are declining in the state the coronavirus threat persistsAlthough daily COVID-19 cases are showing a declining trend everybody should take care and follow COVID-19 protocols he saidWhile religious places are going to be opened people still need to wear face masks and use hand sanitizers The management of religious places will be responsible for implementation of such measures Thackeray saidThe government issued a standard operating procedure SOP for devotees and officials managing places of worship to ensure strict implement of coronavirus-related protocols and curb spread of the infectionThese strict measures include non-distribution of prasad offerings no sprinkling of holy water no touching of statues idols or holy books and staggering the number of visitors to maintain social distancing a government order saidFace mask or covering of the face is mandatory while visiting religious places it said adding the minimum distance between two persons should be 6 feet The state government advised senior citizens pregnant women and children below 10 years of age to remain at home The management of shrines should provide separate entry and exit points for devotees if possible to avoid crowding said the orderPeople should avoid physical contact while greeting each other it saidTouching of statues idols or holy books will not be allowed If possible people should carry their own prayer mats the order saidFor long the opposition BJP had been demanding reopening of temples and other places of worship in Maharashtra Last month the BJP had staged protests in several cities of Maharashtra in support of their demandAfter the first coronavirus wave waned places of religious worship were reopened in Maharashtra in November last year but they were shutdown again for people after the second wave started in the state in March 2021Maharashtra on Friday reported 3286 new coronavirus cases and 51 deaths which took the states infection tally to 6537843 and the toll to 138776 a health department official saidWith 3933 patients discharged from hospitals the number of recovered cases rose to 6357012 Maharashtra now has 39491 active cases PTI ND RSY RSY

Mumbai Sep 24 PTI The Maharashtra government on Friday announced reopening of all religious places from October 7 in the state with COVID-19 protocols a move that comes amid indication that the second wave of the pandemic is ebbingChief Minister Uddhav Thackeray who made the announcement urged people not to drop guard and continue COVID-19-appropriate behaviour in view of a possible third wave of the pandemicAll religious places will be opened from October 7 in the state The Maharashtra government has prepared itself for a third wave but with all precautions the state is allowing relaxations in various activities he saidThe CM said though infections are declining in the state the coronavirus threat persistsAlthough daily COVID-19 cases are showing a declining trend everybody should take care and follow COVID-19 protocols he saidWhile religious places are going to be opened people still need to wear face masks and use hand sanitizers The management of religious places will be responsible for implementation of such measures Thackeray saidFor long the opposition BJP had been demanding reopening of temples and other places of worship in Maharashtra Last month the BJP had staged protests in several cities of Maharashtra in support of their demandAfter the first coronavirus wave waned places of religious worship were reopened in Maharashtra in November last year but they were shutdown again for people after the second wave started in the state in March 2021Maharashtra on Friday reported 3286 new coronavirus cases and 51 deaths which took the states infection tally to 6537843 and the toll to 138776 a health department official saidWith 3933 patients discharged from hospitals the number of recovered cases rose to 6357012 Maharashtra now has 39491 active cases PTI ND RSY RSY