According to Dawn, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) has decided to close educational institutions with a high COVID-19 positive rate for one week.
According to the NCOC, provincial governments will decide whether or not to close schools after consulting with district health, education, and school administrations.
“Covid testing in education institutes was carried out in major Omicron-hit cities to ascertain disease spread among students and ensure accurate disease mapping,” the forum said. “Data suggests a strong correlation between vaccination levels and infection rate in various cities.”
The notice further stated that vigorous testing will be conducted in educational institutions across the country for the next two weeks, with a focus on high-risk cities.
“The federating units will carry out special vaccination drives in schools to ensure 100% vaccination of students over 12 years of age,” it added.
The decision comes after the government reported 7,678 COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, the most in a single day since the epidemic began. The overall positive percentage was also the highest since June of last year, at 12.93 percent.
COVID-related deaths increased to 23 from 5 the day before. Since October 15, 2021, this is the highest daily death toll. The total number of deaths now stands at 29,065. 59,343 tests were performed in the last 24 hours. Pakistan has reported 1,353,479 positive cases thus far.
Sindh is in much worse shape, with 3,739 cases and 17 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. According to a statement released by the Chief Minister’s House on Thursday, 17,002 tests were conducted, with 3,739 cases reporting as positive. In Karachi, 1,359 new infections were detected, bringing the overall positive rate to 46.58 percent.
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