ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) on Monday deferred the decision to close schools amid the fifth wave of coronavirus in the country.
A statement issued after the NCOC meeting said, 'The decision regarding educational institutions will be taken on the basis of positive cases data of various institutions, for which mass testing is being done in educational institutions.
NCOC discussed pandemic curve chart data, national vaccine strategy and disease spread across the country and decided to implement new protocols in cities with positivity rate of 10% and above.
The session was presided over by Federal Planning Minister Asad Umar and National Coordinator Major General Muhammad Zafar Iqbal and was virtually attended by Dr Faisal Sultan, SAPM on Health.
The provincial health and education ministers also attended the meeting virtually and explained the steps being taken to implement non-drug interventions (NPIs) and COVID-19 SOPs in view of the spike in coronavirus cases.
In addition, global and regional trends in the Omicron edition were also discussed during the session, which was called after the national positivity ratio rose to alarming levels.
"Keeping in view the prevalence of the new disease, a new set of NPIs were presented and discussed with the provinces," the NCOC statement said, adding, "After a consultation process with all the stakeholders, the provinces will be able to see the NPIs in the next 48 hours." will implement the new set of
COVID-19 situation under control in Punjab
Speaking at the NCOC meeting, Punjab Health Minister Yasmin Rashid said the virus situation in the province was under control.
Opposing the closure of educational institutions, he told in the meeting that 85 percent of the students in the state have been fully immunized. Further, the minister said that 57% of the total population in Punjab have received two doses of vaccines.
He urged the public to follow the SOPs to protect themselves from the virus. Yasmin Rashid said that the government is taking measures to control the Omicron version of the corona virus.
Earlier in the day, Punjab Education Minister Murad Ras recommended 50% attendance in schools for students below 12 years of age.
Speaking at an event, Murad Ras had said that no decision has been taken yet to shut down educational intuition in Punjab.
He had said that social gatherings are increasing the spread of coronavirus in the country. Opposing the closure of schools, the Punjab minister had said that COVID-19 related SOPs are being implemented in letter and spirit in educational institutions of the province. He said that most of the students have been vaccinated against coronavirus.
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