Three more educational institutions closed in Islamabad due to rising coronavirus cases

• Islamabad's district health administration has closed three more schools owing to the rising number of coronavirus cases there.
• District health officer says one of the colleges was a private one, while the other two were public colleges.
• So far, five educational institutes have been closed in the city due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases.

ISLAMABAD: Owing to the rising number of coronavirus cases in the federal capital, three more educational institutions have been closed, Geo News reported Tuesday.

According to Islamabad's District Health Officer Zaeem Zia, one of the closed colleges is a private one, while the other two are state-owned.

"Colleges which have been temporarily closed include the College for Girls in G-6 and Model College for Boys in I-9."

So far, five educational institutes have been closed in the capital due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in select areas, the district health officer said. 

Last week, the district health administration had sealed two colleges after coronavirus cases were reported therein.

According to Geo News, two boys colleges in Islamabad’s sectors I-10/1 and F-7/3 were sealed where several COVID-19 cases were detected.

Infections have been rising in the educational institutions since they reopened and resumed regular classes in January. 

NCOC to review the situation 

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Monday decided to revisit its "school opening modalities" in its next session.

The NCOC meeting was chaired by Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar.

The meeting discussed updates from the provinces on rising positivity and corresponding actions, vaccination progress, and national vaccine strategy.

The officials also considered deferring the opening up of cinemas, indoor weddings, and dine-in restaurants, which were expected to reopen from March 15. However, a decision on this has not been announced yet.

The meeting also reviewed the rising positivity trend prevailing across the country and expressed its concerns over public complacency in following non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs or alternate measures to treat the disease other than medical treatment).

The forum directed the provincial administrations to ensure strict enforcement of NPIs at the grassroots level to contain the disease spread as slackness in adhering to safety guidelines would trigger another outbreak.

The meeting was attended by National Coordinator Lt Geb Hamood Uz Zaman Khan. Provincial representatives participated in the meeting through video link.

Last month, the NCOC had decided to loosen some of the coronavirus restrictions that it earlier put in place.

The NCOC had added that the decisions could be reviewed again in view of increased disease prevalence, whenever deemed necessary.