Vikrant Shekhawat : Sep 25, 2021, 04:05 PM
Mumbai: All cinema halls in Maharashtra will be allowed to open after October 22, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's office said this afternoon in a tweet, as the state eases curbs amid drop in Covid cases.The protocol that shall be followed, as movie theatres reopen, is in the works, and will be released soon, the Chief Minister's office further said.Maharashtra, which has logged the highest overall Covid cases in the country, is gradually easing restrictions as vaccination picks up pace. In Mumbai, 41 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated and 88 per cent of the people have received their first dose.Schools across the state will open from October 4. "We are starting schools from October 4. In rural areas, it's going to be classes 5-12, and in cities it will be classes 8-12. To arrive at this decision, we consulted the task force on Covid... we took their opinion and included in the government resolution. We discussed it with the health department and the health department also has given us clearance and the Chief Minister has also permitted us today to go ahead with the decision," the state's Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad said.On Friday, the state government also announced that all places of worship will reopen from October 7, the first day of Navratri. "All places of worship will reopen for devotees from the first day of Navaratri, i.e., 7th October 2021, while observing all COVID safety protocols," Mr Thackeray's office tweeted.Even as the states have been gradually easing restrictions, the central government has been constantly reminding people to remain cautious ahead of the festive season.Maharashtra has logged over 65.37 lakh Covid cases since the start of the pandemic; it recorded 3,286 cases in the last 24 hours. India has logged 3.36 crore cases so far; over 29,000 fresh cases were logged yesterday.