From Zeeshan Mirza
KARACHI: Earlier this week, schools and colleges began reopening across Pakistan, and in the last 24 hours, 752 new positive cases have been recorded, as well as 9 deaths, according to National Command and Operation Center (NCOC).
Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi Campus had opened this week, but two positive cases emerged, and the campus has gone into lockdown once more, according to campus sources.
Moreover, the Sindh Health Department has disclosed that eight employees of Matiari, Hala and New Saeedabad colleges have been diagnosed positive in coronavirus tests.
“Two professors and a senior clerk of Hala Girls College, have also been among the infected persons,” the department added.
Earlier, an educational institute in Islamabad has been sealed after 16 cases were reported from the institution during targeted testing, said NCOC.
The closures came shortly after all educational institutions, including seminaries, reopened from Tuesday after a six-month break amid concerns over the implementation of COVID-19 safety protocols and fears of a second wave of the virus.
Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department confirmed that 34 pupils have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus since the reopening of schools in the province, in the span of just three days.
A spokesperson of the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department said that 24 students were tested positive for Covid-19 in Gujranwala, seven in Nankana Sahib and one in Bhakkar. He added that two staffers were also diagnosed with the virus in Lodhran and Bhakkar.
The spokesperson said that the government closed two educational institutions in Nankana Sahib after several Covid-19 cases were reported there. He said that the authority disinfected all the educational institutions where the virus cases were reported. Any school will be shut for five days if two or more of its students test positive for Covid-19, the spokesperson added.
On Thursday, the government had shared that 16 educational institutions were closed in KP, one in Islamabad and five in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Meanwhile, coronavirus has been detected in 88 schools teachers in Sindh, according to an education department statement issued today.
Due to fears of the novel coronavirus, Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani on Friday delayed reopening of schools for sixth, seventh and eighth grades, which had previously been scheduled for 21 September.
“Our purpose is not to shut down schools permanently […] we simply seek for them to mend their ways when we see they are not fulfilling their responsibility. They should follow through with the commitments made,” he said while addressing a press conference.
He also spoke on how government institutions and private schools were not effectively following the standard operating procedures (SOPs). “And the following of safety protocols is not to be done for our satisfaction. Our children go to these schools. It is a question of their health and safety,” he added.
According to the guidelines issued by the government, the use of masks is mandatory for all teachers and students, while schools, colleges and universities will ensure the presence of hand sanitizers at the entrance.
Due to the lack of SOPs in schools, the education minister said that four schools had been sealed yesterday. Of these, three were “probably not even registered”.
“Yes, marketplaces and cinemas are open, rallies and religious processions were carried out. But you have a choice in the matter. When it comes to schools, many children simply do not have the choice to not attend.
“When a child has to go to school, it is the government’s responsibility as well as that of parents to decide what is better for him,” he emphasized.
He further added, “Our purpose is not to shut down schools permanently […] we simply seek for them to mend their ways when we see they are not fulfilling their responsibility. They should follow through with the commitments made.”
“We want schools to reopen but when they do, we should be free of any worry that if they do go to school they will not be so exposed to the risk of catching any illness,” the minister said to media persons. He underscored the importance of protecting children instead of helping schools recover from their losses.
Ghani also asked the media persons to spread awareness of the novel coronavirus and protective measures which could be taken to help curb the disease.
Regarding the delay in reopening schools for the aforementioned classes, the education minister said the decision would be reviewed on 28 September. “I will get in touch with the federal ministers and will request a meeting of the inter-provincial education ministers committee so that a uniform decision is taken across the country,” Ghani added.
However, Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood later in the day denied any change in plan over the phase-wise reopening of the schools across the country and said that a meeting would be held on September 22 before the resumption of other classes of schools in the second phase.
His remarks came after the Sindh government today announced to postpone reopening of schools in the second phase amid a surge in Covid-19 cases across the province.
“Our timetable is not yet changed,” said Shafqat Mahmood adding, “Before taking the decision to postpone the second phase, Sindh Minister Saeed Ghani should have taken us into confidence on the matter.”
The federal education minister said that Sindh had decided on their own without consulting them.
Before the rise in cases, Classes sixth to eighth were to resume on September 21. Pre-primary and primary classes had been scheduled to resume on September 30.
The number of positive cases of Covid-19 has surged to 304,386 nationwide, while the tally of fatalities has jumped to 6,408.
Till now 133,125 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 98,142 in Punjab, 37,242 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 13,991 in Balochistan, 16,033 in Islamabad, 3,381 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 2,472 in Azad Kashmir.
Furthermore, 2,455 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Sindh, 2,225 in Punjab, 1,257 in KP, 145 in Balochistan, 180 in Islamabad, 80 in GB and 66 in Azad Kashmir.
Pakistan has so far conducted 3,090,660 coronavirus tests and 33,865 in last 24 hours. 291,683 coronavirus patients have recovered in the country whereas 579 patients are in critical condition. Pakistan at present stands at number 17 among the list of countries affected by the coronavirus disease.
Moreover, As many as 13,000 teaching and non-teaching staff of educational institutions across Sindh have been tested for the novel coronavirus (Covid-19).
Of all the staff who have taken a Covid-19 test, results of 25,00 have come out, the provincial education department said, adding 88 of them were found to have contracted the virus, which is about 2.5 per cent of the total staff undergoing the test.
The department said it is yet to receive Covid-19 test results of the remaining 11,000 staffers. Upon receipt of these results, the Sindh government will decide whether to continue with academic activities in the province or not.
Meanwhile, Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani will preside over a meeting to review the Covid-19 situation after the reopening of education institutions across the province.
Earlier today, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Covid-19 said thirteen more educational institutes have been sealed during the last 24 hours for not following standard operating procedures (SOPs) designed to prevent the resurgence of the infection.
Ten educational institutes were sealed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) while three in Sindh.
