Pakistan allows reopening of schools in districts with less than 5 per cent COVID-19 positivity

Islamabad: The National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) on Wednesday allowed the reopening of schools from May 24 in districts where COVID-19 positivity ratio is less than 5 per cent.

According to the decision, educational institutes in all districts will be reopened in a staggered manner from June 7.

All matric and intermediate exams will be held after June 20 and all professional and non-professional exams will take place on a case-to-case basis as recommended by the Ministry of Education.

The development came after NCOC Chairman Asad Umar presided over a meeting with Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan, provincial chief secretaries and other members in attendance via video link.

A detailed review of COVID-19 prevalence in the country was taken during the meeting, a statement from the NCOC said.

Following the meeting, important decisions regarding restrictions were taken after extensive deliberations:

* Outdoor restaurants will open daily till 11:59pm while takeaway will be allowed 24/7 from May 24.

* Tourism sector will reopen under strict Covid-19 protocols from May 24.

* Educational institutes in districts with less than five per cent positivity rate will be reopened from May 24.

* Outdoor marriage ceremonies will be allowed with a maximum of 150 people from June 1.

* Elective surgeries will be reopened from June 1.

Death toll rises

The death toll in Pakistan due to COVID-19 jumped to 19,856 on Wednesday after 104 lives were lost to the coronavirus in the last twenty-four hours.

According to the NCOC, after 41,771 tests conducted in the past 24 hours, 3,256 new cases of COVID-19 were reported showing 7.7 per cent positivity rate in the country.

With these latest figures, Pakistan’s tally of cases climbed to 886,184 while there are still 66,377 active cases in the country, says NCOC portal.

Virus can hit back after lockdown

In Pakistan after the lockdown, life is struggling back to normal and business activities are resuming gradually.

However, health experts have cautioned that with the offices and markets reopening according to the pre-lockdown schedule, there is a risk that the coronavirus might hit back.

In support of their claim, they argue the number of deaths that was below 100 for four consecutive days (Friday- Monday) has started escalating once again — 135 on Tuesday and 104 on Wednesday.

Vaccination centre with 8,000 daily-capacity opens

Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiative Asad Umar on Wednesday inaugurated Islamabad’s largest mass vaccination centre with a capacity of administering COVID-19 vaccine to 8,000 persons daily.

The vaccination centre has been set up in the Fatima Jinnah Park (F-9 Park) of Islamabad and would be working as per schedule of the vaccination centres across the country i.e. from 8am to 8pm observing off-day on Friday.

The opening ceremony was attended by District Health officer (DHO) Dr Zaeem Zia, Secretary Health and officials of the NCOC.

Vaccination being administered in Pakistan is safe

Dr Faisal Sultan, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health, has brushed aside rumours about efficacy of the Chinese vaccine being administered in Pakistan and made it clear it was proven safe and there was nothing to worry about.

In a tweet, Dr Faisal Sultan said overall 3.8 million vaccine doses were administered of which only 4,328 adverse events (side effects) have been reported so far.

“Nearly all reports were of mild, expected side effects – 90 per cent involved pain at the site of injection or fever,” said PM’s top aide on health.

These were mild such as pain at the injection site and fever, he said.

The Pakistan government is currently administering four vaccines free of cost: Sinopharm, Cansino, Sinovac and AstraZeneca and walk-in vaccinations are open for those over 40 years.

According to Dr Faisal out of those cases too, only six were of serious nature and each of them is being investigated thoroughly.