All educational institutions across Sindh closeduntil March 13

All the schools, varsities and educational institutes in Sindh will be closed till March 13 so that the isolation period of all the suspected patients of coronavirus could complete.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah made this announcement on Sunday as he presided over the fourth task force meeting on coronavirus at the CM House.

In consultation with the task force members, particularly doctors, the CM decided to keep the educational institutions closed till March 13. “This closure will help the suspects kept in isolation to complete their quarantine period,” he said.

The meeting was told that there were six suspects belonging to Khairpur, Jacobabad, Tando Jam and Karachi’s District South who had been kept in quarantine. Their samples had also been sent for testing.

Out of six samples sent for the test, one result had been received which was negative while fives results were awaited, the meeting was told.

The CM was informed that 738 passengers had arrived in the city at the Jinnah International Airport since January 15, 2020. The figures received from Taftan and other areas revealed that 13,098 passengers had reached from Iran. The CM directed all the agencies, including the FIA and the health department, to keep close coordination with the relevant officers working at the Taftan border so that they could keep sharing day-to-day data of the passengers arriving there.

Murad said the data must contain the name of the passenger, their date of arrival, district, taluka and complete address, CNIC number, mobile number, etc. so that they could be tracked accordingly.

The meeting was told that the airport authorities had started to enforce all the effective screening measures so that no active case could be able to enter Karachi. The chair also directed the Karachi commissioner to make random visits to the Karachi airport.

The CM was told that the local government minister, mayor, commissioner and others had visited the airport the night before and found that best screening arrangements had been made there.

In his message to the people of Sindh, the CM said there was no need to worry. “The measures we are taking such as closing of educational institutions, tracking the passengers and coordinating with the families of the pilgrims are purely for the safety of our people,” he said and urged the people to cooperate with the government so that it could keep this province and the country safe and secure from further intrusion of the coronavirus. He maintained that all the confirmed cases were being contained.

The CM directed the health department to share all the details with the deputy commissioners so that they not only remained updated but kept following the pilgrims and their family members to their addresses for necessary guidance.

Murad directed the commissioner to check the data provided by the airport authorities with the National Database and Registration Authority so the addresses of some of the missing pilgrims could be ascertained for further action.

The meeting was attended by the chief secretary, provincial ministers, the law adviser, the Karachi commissioner and others.Meanwhile, the universities and boards department issued a notification, announcing that all the public and private varsities and degree-awarding institutes in Sindh were to remain closed till March 13.