Pakistan to review reopening schools today as COVID-19 infections surge

Students wearing facemasks arrive at a school in Lahore, Pakistan, on February 1, 2021. (AFP/File)

• Government previously allowed schools to resume regular five-day classes from March 1
• Officials suspect a ‘third wave’ of the pandemic as COVID-19 positivity rates rise nationwide

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s federal and provincial education ministers will meet today, Wednesday, at the National Command and Operations Center (NCOC) in the federal capital to review last month’s decision to restart regular classes at schools across the country as coronavirus infection rates rise, local media reported.
Last month Pakistan announced it would ease a number of coronavirus restrictions, including lifting time limits on commercial activities, allowing indoor dining at restaurants from March 15 and restarting regular five-day classes at schools from March 1.
But a possible ‘third wave’ of the pandemic has led officials to reconsider school openings, local media reported. 
Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood was quoted by Samaa TV as saying all provincial ministers would be attending Wednesday’s meeting “to work on the future strategy regarding schools.”
“The virus is not the same as it was in November and December but we have seen a rise in cases over the week,” he said.
Pakistan began its vaccination campaign to immunize frontline health workers last month after receiving 500,000 doses of the SinoPharm vaccine from China.
While the inoculation drive was not carried out at a rapid pace, the government intends to spread the program to the rest of the population as well.
Pakistan reported its first coronavirus case in the last week of February 2020. Ever since, it has recorded 595,239 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 13,324 deaths. The country conducted about 39,500 coronavirus tests in the last 24 hours, reporting 1,786 new cases of infection and 43 more deaths.