Daily Times

Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood on Wednesday announced the extension in educational institutions closure till April 11 in high-risk areas and specific districts of the country keeping in view the spike in prevalence of novel coronavirus.

Addressing a press conference after holding an important meeting of Inter-Provincial Education and Health Ministers here at the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) to review the spike in current wave of the epidemic, he said more educational institutions could be closed in high-risk areas and selected districts as per discretion of the provinces. All educational institutions – schools, colleges, universities, madrassas, academies – in the nine districts of Punjab including Rawalpindi, Lahore, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sargodha, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Multan, Sheikhupura and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) would stay closed till April 11, he announced.

He said the Covid-19 spike has been observed in urban centers especially Punjab’s Lahore district, few areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The prevalence of disease in Balochistan, Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan provinces has been relatively low as compared to the ICT, Punjab, and KP, he said, adding that all these matters were considered in detail during the NCOC meeting. “We are cognizant of the fact that the closure of educational institutions time and again is causing students’ loss but their health is top priority and the government will not make any compromise on it,” he said.

Announcing the government’s decision regarding annual examinations of matric and intermediate, he said during the NCOC meeting the consensus was built on the final examinations that they would be held as per prescribed schedule. He said O and A levels Cambridge examinations are scheduled from April 26 and “we are going to hold a meeting with Cambridge authorities for postponing the examinations due to upward trend in the pandemic and the decision in this regard will be made afterward.”

He said provinces are permitted to operate staggered classes in low-risk districts. A final review will be made after viewing overall situation with health and education ministers on April 7, he said.

The total active Covid-19 cases on Wednesday were recorded at 36,849 as 3,301 more people tested positive for the deadly virus and 957 people recovered from the disease. Thirty corona patients died, 29 of whom were under treatment in hospitals and one out of hospital, according to the latest update issued by the NCOC. Most of the deaths occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, followed by Punjab. Out of the total 30 deaths, eight of the deceased died on ventilators during their treatment. Some 38,282 tests were conducted across country, including 6,304 in Sindh, 17,933 in Punjab, 6,786 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 5,226 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 684 in Balochistan, 279 in GB, and 1,070 in AJK. Around 586,228 people have recovered from the disease so far across Pakistan, making it a significant count with over 90 percent recovery ratio of the affected patients.

Since the pandemic outbreak, a total of 637,042 cases have been detected which also includes the perished, recovered and under treatment Covid-19 patients, including AJK 11,946, Balochistan 19,374, GB 4,975, ICT 53,136, KP 81,204, Punjab 202,743 and Sindh 263,664. About 13,965 deaths were recorded in country since the eruption of the contagion.

A total of 9,895,515 coronavirus tests have been conducted so far, while 631 hospitals are equipped with Covid facilities. Some 3,104 patients are currently admitted to hospitals across country.