Schools, religious places, and cinema halls were shut down in late March due to the second wave of Covid-19. However, Maharashtra is all set to re-open schools, cinema halls, and religious places on different dates in October.
In Mumbai, physical classes for the students of 8-12 graders will resume. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will take the decision for the rest of the students in November. IN urban areas, classes for 1-7 will not resume and this rule is applied for private as well as government schools.
Schools are reopening across the state, however, it is not mandatory for students to attend physical classes. If they are willing to attend physical classes, the consent of parents will be necessary.
Religious places:
- Places of worship that are outside the Covid-19 containment zones will re-open on 7 October.
- Thermal screening, face masks, use of sanitizers, and handwashes will be mandatory.
- Common prayer mats will be discouraged.
- The religious gathering will be strictly prohibited.
- Touching the holy books, saints and idols will not be allowed.
- Physical offerings like prasad and sprinkling of holy water will not be allowed.
- Entry of symptomatic patients will be prohibited inside religious places.
Weddings:
- 100 people will be allowed to the wedding if the premises are closed and 200 people will be allowed if the premises are open-air.
Theatres and cinema halls:
- On 25 September, the Office of Cm Uddhav Thackeray tweeted that theatres and auditoriums will reopen in Maharashtra from 22 October.
- The guidelines will be released soon.
It will be discussed whether to allow only fully vaccinated people in theatres and cinema halls in order to lower the risk and encourage vaccination.
