Education ministers decide to not close schools amid surge in COVID-19 cases
Last updated on: 17 January,2022 04:39 pm
Education ministers decide to not close schools amid surge in COVID-19 cases
LAHORE (Dunya News) – Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood on Monday chaired a meeting of Inter-Provincial Education Ministers via video link and reviewed the situation following surge in coronavirus cases. During the session, the participants decided to not close educational institutions. In a statement, Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas told that the students have been strictly directed to wear masks and inoculate themselves against coronavirus to enter the schools. Classes for children under the age of 12 years will be allowed with 50 percent attendance, he added.
On the other hand, Pakistan has reported 7 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 1,328,487. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 29,019. According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 4,340 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. Punjab remains the worst-hit province in terms of deaths followed by Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Till now 13,090 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab, 7,697 in Sindh 5,960 in KP, 969 in Islamabad, 749 in Azad Kashmir, 367 in Balochistan, and 187 in GB. Furthermore 502,500 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 453,392 in Punjab 182,311 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 111,376 in Islamabad, 34,758 in Azad Kashmir 33,705 in Balochistan and 10,445 in Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistan has so far conducted 24,186,508 coronavirus tests and 49,809 in the last 24 hours. 1,263,791 patients have recovered in the country whereas 781 patients are in critical condition. The COVID-19 positivity ratio was recorded at 8.71 percent. So far, 101,457,925 people have received their first dose of coronavirus vaccine including 332,969 in last 24 hours. 76,649,649 citizens have been fully vaccinated while 462,614 received their second dose in last 24 hours. The number of total administered doses has reached to 166,837,089 with 753,282 in the last 24 hours.