The Covid-19 task force and the state health department have also approved the decision of reopening schools in the state,  Gaikwad said.

Schools will reopen in a phased manner. In rural areas, classes will resume for the students of 5 to 12 and in urban areas, for 8 to 12. The Maharashtra government is making efforts to bring back children to schools. The local authorities have also been given powers, she added.

Maharashtra had earlier formed a committee to set guidelines and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the reopening of schools.

The suggested SOPs include staggered school hours, social distancing inside classrooms, setting up school health clinics, among others. Sanitisation of schools, staggered entry of students, wearing masks are among mandatory protocols.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra on Thursday reported 3,320 COVID-19 cases and 61 deaths, which took its infection tally to 65,34,557 and toll to 1,38,725, a health department official said. With 4,050 patients getting discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, the recovery count rose to 63,53,079. 

The state now has 39,191 active cases. The state has 2,61,842 people in home quarantine and another 1,461 in institutional quarantine, the official said. The state’s COVID-19 recovery rate now stands at 97.22 per cent, while the fatality rate is 2.12 per cent. 

The cumulative number of coronavirus tests conducted in the state climbed to 5,76,46,515 as 1,70,373 samples were examined in the last 24 hours, he said. 

As many as eight districts – Dhule, Bhandara, Hingoli, Gondia, Nanded, Akola, Amravati and Chandrapur – did not report any new infection case. Similarly, Jalgaon, Parbhani and Chandrapur municipal corporations (urban areas) also did not record any cases in the last 24 hours. 

Ahmednagar district reported the highest number of 577 new infections, followed by Mumbai city at 498. Satara district logged the highest 13 fatalities in the state during the day. Out of the eight regions in the state, Pune region reported the highest 1,159 new cases followed by 1,050 in Mumbai region. 

Nashik region reported 700 new cases, Kolhapur 251, Latur 104, Aurangabad 27, Nagpur 17 and Akola region 12 new cases. 

According to the official, among the 61 fresh fatalities, as many as 28 were reported from Pune region, followed by 11 from Nashik and nine from Kolhapur region. Mumbai and Latur regions logged six deaths each, followed by one fatality in Nagpur region. 

However, Aurangabad and Akola regions did not report any death due to the virus in the last 24 hours. Mumbai city witnessed 498 new COVID-19 cases and five deaths, while Pune city reported 182 cases, but no fresh fatalities. 

Of the 39,191 active patients in the state, Pune district has the highest at 9,807, the officiasaid. Out of the 63,53,079 recoveries reported in the state so far, the highest – 11,08,460 – were are from Pune district, he added.