Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas Friday said that the government decided to close schools in 17 districts in the wake of rising coronavirus cases.
In a tweet on Friday, the provincial education minister said that earlier, the government had closed the schools in 13 districts including Lahore, however, the schools will remain closed in four more districts including Okara, Jhang, Bhakkar, and Khanewal.
The education minister tweet reads “all public and private schools in the following districts are closed with immediate effect due to the rise in COVID-19 cases. These districts are in addition to the districts announced on April 6, 2021. Okara, Jhang, Khanewal & Bhakkar.”
He also shared the notification of the Punjab government regarding the closure of schools in 17 districts on Twitter. The notification says that all private and public schools will remain closed until further order.
https://twitter.com/DrMuradPTI/status/1385600776341532673
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Earlier, the 13 districts where the government had shut the schools include: Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sialkot, Multan, Toba Tek Singh, Sargodha, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Dera Ghazi Khan.
It is pertinent to mention here that Prime Minister Imran Khan sought the help of armed forces in order to implement the SOPs to curb the pandemic. The PM chaired a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Friday which reviewed the current pandemic situation in the country.
The PM appealed to the people to comply with the Covid-19 SOPs. He warned that if people did not take the precautionary measures, the government might have to impose a complete lockdown in cities. He said now the jawans of Pakistan Army and Rangers, along with police personnel, would make people comply with the SOPs. The NCC decided to schools with positivity rates above 5% closed until Eid, including classes 9-12. Markets to stay open till 6:00 pm. Only essential businesses can operate after 6 pm. Outdoor and indoor dining has been banned until Eid however takeaway and deliveries will be allowed. 50% work from home policy to be implemented in offices.
The situation of the pandemic is getting bad to worst day by day. As per today’s details, 144 people died of Covid-19 while some 5877 new cases are reported during the last 24 hours.
