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Closure of schools in Karachi: Worried parents ask govt to act quickly amid COVID-19 surge

87% of the COVID-19 cases in Karachi are of Omicron variant, says the head of Dow Diagnostic Research and Reference Laboratory

By Web Desk
January 10, 2022
Students are going to their school amid fifth wave of COVID-19 in Karachi. Photo: file
Students are going to their school amid fifth wave of COVID-19 in Karachi. Photo: file    

KARACHI: Worried about Omicron and alarming surge in new COVID-19 cases in Karachi amid the fifth wave of the pandemic in the country, the parents have demanded immediate steps by the Sindh government to control the virus spread.

According to the officials from the Sindh health department, Karachi saw an alarming rise in COVID-19 cases on Saturday, with the virus positivity ratio recorded at more than 15%.

87% of the COVID-19 cases in Karachi are of Omicron variant, said the head of Dow Diagnostic Research and Reference Laboratory

Reacting to the worsening COVID-19 situation in the metropolis, a parent, Syed Muhammad Aqeel Abidi termed it “Absolutely terrible”.

Taking to Twitter, he said, “The kids should be given a week off, at least a week lockdown is needed to halt this boom.”

Another said, “Positivity rate is alarming in Karachi. Schools need to be closed to keep the kids safe.”

Declaring the situation “alarming”, Maimona Iftikhar said,” The government should take steps to stop this immediately. But unfortunately, our government is waiting for peak .it's sad.”

Another user, Ali Umer  Shaikh urged the NCOC to close educational institutions for at least a couple of weeks.

Karachi administrator warns of strict action

In view of the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Karachi, Murtaza Wahab, the city administrator, Monday warned of strict actions.

He urged the people to get themselves vaccinated against the virus and adhere to the SOPs to help the government in the war against the virus.

The government was closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation, the Karachi administrator said, adding that if people continued to defy the SOPs, no other option would be left except to take stringent measures.

The government, however, will make decisions based on the ground realities, he added.