Covid-19: Pakistan to reopen educational institutions from mid-September

Pakistan is all set to reopen educational institutions from mid-September after a six-month hiatus with the steady improvement in the COVID-19 situation in the country, which recorded just one death due to the disease in the last 24 hours, officials said on Saturday.

Education institutions are closed from March 16 due to the coronavirus.

Only one death due to the viral infection has been reported overnight, the health ministry said, adding that the death toll now stands at 6,284.

The coronavirus tally reached 295,372 with the detection of 319 new cases in the last 24 hours, it said.

Sindh reported the maximum number of 129,179 cases, followed by Punjab at 96,699, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa at 35,971, Islamabad at 15,597, Balochistan at 12,804, Gilgit-Baltistan at 2,832 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) at 2,290.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said educational institutions will reopen from September 15 and the provinces have been told to make arrangements accordingly.

Khan chaired a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC), the apex body to take key decisions related to COVID-19. The meeting reviewed the overall situation and expressed satisfaction, according to an official statement.

Among other things, the meeting discussed reopening of educational institutions.

Prime Minister Khan reiterated that it was time to restart educational activities but another high-level meeting will be held on September 7 to take the final decision, the statement said.

Initially high schools, colleges and universities will be reopened, officials said, adding that primary and kindergarten-level schools will not be opened in the initial phase.