Punjab govt against closing schools en masse

ISLAMABAD: Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas on Sunday called for selectively shutting down schools where coronavirus cases were found instead of shutting down all schools at once, as the country recorded its highest daily infections in four months.

His opinion came ahead of a meeting of all provincial education ministers under Minister for federal Education Shafqat Mahmood today (Monday), to discuss the prevailing condition of coronavirus in the country.

Early and extended winter vacations will also come under discussion, in line with National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) recommendations.

The provincial ministers are set to gather as Pakistan’s active coronavirus cases hit 26,538 after 2,443 more people tested positive for the virus in a 24-hour-period, the largest increase in cases since July 13. Thirty-two patients died in the same period according to NCOC’s latest update. At least 1,569 Covid patients are admitted in hospitals across the country, 196 of whom are on ventilator.

As authorities try to rein in the coronavirus spread, Karachi’s wedding, banquet and lawn owners have rejected the NCOC’s new coronavirus standard operating procedures (SOPs). In a presser on Saturday, The Karachi Marriage Hall, Lawn, Banquet Owners Association slammed the new COVID-19 SOPs as “economically marginalising”.

The association said thousands of employees and other businesses associated with weddings and marriages would also be affected due to more restrictions and bans. The president of the association said the new SOPs were “against the Constitution, which gives freedom to earn lawful money to all citizens”.

He explained that wedding hall owners and their thousands of employees had already faced a severe economic crisis when all the halls were closed between March 13 and September 15 during the lockdown period.

The association said there were an estimated 800 wedding halls in Karachi alone, adding that the livelihood of 50,000 people and their families was linked to these halls. “Around 70 to 80 per cent of our employees work on daily wages,” he said, adding that the earning of such employees depended on daily wedding events.