Panaji, Sep 15 (IANS): Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Tuesday that an Assembly session cannot be convened at a time when coronavirus cases were peaking in the coastal state.

Speaking to reporters here, Sawant, also the Education Minister, said that the Goa government had not yet taken any decision on reopening the schools.

"There can be no Assembly at present when the cases are at their highest. The Budget has been passed... the Speaker can call an Assembly session in consultation with all parties," Sawant said.

"We have not said that we are starting schools. We will first consult the Headmasters Association, the Parent-Teacher Associations, management committees and only then take a decision," the Chief Minister said.

On Monday, former Deputy Chief Minister and opposition MLA Sudin Dhavalikar had written to the acting Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, urging him to convene an Assembly session to discuss critical issues like the state's alleged inability to handle the pandemic, ongoing Mhadei interstate water dispute, and continued ban on mining in the state.

Goa has 25,511 confirmed cases, of which 315 patients have died ever since the pandemic broke out in March.