Schools not being closed till Sept 30, clarifies NCOC
The National Command and Operation Centre asks citizens to "avoid rumours"
- Educational institutes will not be closed from September 1 to September 30: NCOC.
- NCOC advises people to "avoid rumours".
- The Punjab govt had announced the closure of schools from September 6 to September 11 to curb the spread of COVID-19.
ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operating Center (NCOC) on Monday denied rumours of schools closing from September 6 to September 30, claiming that the news is false.
The NCOC took to Twitter to deny the news that claimed that it had ordered the closure of all public and private schools from September 6 to September 30 due to COVID-19 conditions.
The "fake" news claim had also stated that the Federal Minister of Education Shafqat Mehmood had approved of NCOC's decision.
NCOC posted the screenshot of the fake news and wrote that "no such decision has been made."
The body also advised people to refrain from spreading rumours.
NCOC had earlier revised COVID-19 safety guidelines for the federal capital and several districts in Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In the newly announced restrictions, the NCOC had bannedall indoor and outdoor gatherings and events with the exception of outdoor weddings. For outdoor weddings, a maximum of 300 guests has been allowed.
NCOC had also restricted intercity public transport in districts with high coronavirus positivity ratios.
Districts in Punjab included Sargodha, Khushab, Mianwali, Rahim Yar Khan, Khanewal, Faisalabad, Bhakkar, Gujarat, Gujranwala, Multan, Bahawalpur, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Sialkot, and Sheikhupura.
As for KP, the selected districts included Haripur, Malakand, Mansehra, Swabi, DI Khan, Swat, Abbottabad, and Peshawar.
In Sindh, the Sindh Home Department also enforced additional guidelines according to NCOC recommendations. Hyderabad and Karachi are the two cities where the new restrictions were imposed.
Punjab announced the closure of schools from September 6 to September 11 to curb the spread of the coronavirus, however, news claims of schools being closed till September 30 all across the country were declared false by NCOC.