Mumbai: The reopening of schools in Pune city has been postponed for now as they will remain closed till January 3, 2021, Pune Municipal Corporation said in a statement on Saturday. The decision was taken in the wake of the rising Coronavirus cases in the city.

As of Friday, the number of Coronavirus cases in Pune division stood at 4,66,249 and deaths at 11,029. Meanwhile, the coronavirus tally in Maharashtra increased to 18,72,440 as 4,268 people tested positive for the infection, a health department official said.

Few days ago, School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad had said that the Maharashtra education department would allow reopening of schools for classes 5 to 8 only after getting the approval of the state health department.

The state government had last month empowered district collectors and local authorities to decide on reopening of schools, which have been shut since March this year due to the Covid-19 induced lockdown, for classes 9 to 12 based on the pandemic situation in their areas.

“The school education department will discuss the issue of reopening schools with the public health department. Once we get their approval, we will resume classes,” Gaikwad had told reporters.