What are the new restrictions for schools in Karachi, Lahore Islamabad and other cities

ISLAMABAD: In a bid to protect the students from COVID-19 amid the recent alarming surge reported across the country, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Wednesday announced new restrictions for educational institutions in cities with over 10% of positivity rate.

As per the fresh guidelines issued by the NCOC, schools are allowed to open with 50% attendance for students below the age of 12 in the cities where the COVID-19 positivity rate stands above 10%. In these areas, the classes for children under 12 years will continue on "staggered" days.

For fully vaccinated students above the age of 12, the NCOC decided to open the schools at 100% capacity.

However, in the cities and districts which have a positivity ratio of up to 10%, the classes will continue as per normal routine, but with stringent COVID-19 protocols intact.

COVID-19 positivity rate in major cities

Karachi — 40.13%

Muzaffarabad — 21.43%

Lahore —15%

Hyderabad — 13.98%

Islamabad — 11.8%

Peshawar — 10.68%

Rawalpindi — 10.26%

Mirpur — 4.91%

Quetta— 2.71%

Gilgit — 5.26%

Abbottabad — 2.44%

Bannu — 0%

Mardan — 2.49%

Swat — 0.46%

Bahawalpur— 1.47%

Faisalabad — 1.7%

Gujranwala — 0.96%

Gujrat— 0.95%

Sargodha— 0.20%

In a statement, the NCOC said,” With effect from February 2022, vaccination for students above 12 years will be mandatory (at least one dose). No exemption other than medical reasons will be entertained.”

Aggressive sentinel testing in educational institutions will be carried out for targeted closures in high disease prevalence education institutes, it added.

Federating units in consultations with health authorities will set a number/percentage for closure of education institutes, read the statement.