22 Educational Institutes closed again

At least 22 educational institutes in Pakistan have been closed over violations of COVID-19 SOPs.

According to the National Command and Operations Center, 22 educational institutions were closed in the last 48 hours for violating coronavirus SOPs. Around 16 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, one in Islamabad and five in Azad Kashmir have been closed.

NCOC officials say the probe into not taking precautionary measures has spread to educational institutions that have been closed. The coronavirus test of eight staff members in two colleges of Matiari district of Sindh has come positive.

Earlier this week, the NCOC had said a “major educational institute” in the federal capital was sealed after a spike in COVID-19 cases was reported from it.

“A major educational institution sealed in Islamabad. Due to targeted testing, 16 cases were reported from the subject institution,”. The NCOC had also shared that contact tracing will be done to “ensure containment” of COVID-19 cases in the city.

Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani in his statement said that both the colleges in Matiari district have been closed. Other staff members and teachers of both the colleges will also undergo the coronavirus test.

On the other hand, Pakistan has reported six deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 303,634. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 6,399.

According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 545 persons have been tested positive for COVID-19 in 24 hours.

On September 7, Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood had announced that all higher education institutions in the country will reopen in phases from September 15.

Over 30,000 religious seminaries across the country also reopened in phases from Tuesday.