The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to close all educational institutions in the province for 15 days amid the growing threat of coronavirus spread.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the provincial cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Mehmood Khan on Friday.

In a joint press conference held by the KP ministers, the further directives were issued including the postponement of the board examinations, in addition to the closure of all public and private hostels.

While assuring the preparedness of the KP government, Taimur Khan Jhagra said “We’ve made every possible arrangements at the hospitals, and are taking more steps to keep the virus at bay.”

He further said that provincial government has also decided to ban the visitors in the jails, and requested the people to avoid attending weddings and other ceremonies until the situation normalises.

“Don’t pay attention to rumours, only consider the official response as reliable,” the minister said, and requested the people to avoid handshakes for now.

The minister also conveyed the KP government’s decision to suspend all the cultural events, seminar, including the Under-21 Games recently inaugurated by the PM in Peshawar.

On the other hand, 24NewsHD, quoting government officials, also reported that a decision to ban all political and public gatherings had also been taken. In this connection, the planned rally of the chief minister in Swat is also cancelled.

Meanwhile, the people would be advised to reduce the numbers at gatherings like marriages.

Furthermore, the officials also said that the decision about the Torkham border crossing would be taken by the National Security Council meeting which is to be held later today.

Earlier, the Sindh government had announced the decision to shut all the schools, colleges and universities across the province till May 30.

According to the decision, this period would be treated as the summer holidays. All the planned exams have also been postponed until further notice.

On the other hand, all the remaining Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches scheduled to be held in Karachi will now be held in closed doors without any spectators.

Meanwhile, different institutions are taking necessary steps individually, as the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Lahore – the country’s top university – has been closed till April 7, reported 24 News HD.