Omicron COVID-19 variant: Govt wants to continue educational activities, says Shafqat Mahmood

• Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood says he "doesn't know about new strain in detail".
• Says examinations will be held on time, and entire syllabus will be covered in it.
• Closure of schools thrice a week will bring down smog levels as it always has, opines Mahmood.
  

LAHORE: Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood has said that the government wants to keep educational institutes open amid reports of the spread of new COVID-19 variant Omicron.

The new strain, Omicron, is highly contagious and is spreading fast across the globe.

First discovered in South Africa, it has now been detected in Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Botswana, Israel, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, and the Czech Republic.

However, when asked about the education department's plans to deal with the threat, the education minister said: "I don't know about the new variant of coronavirus in detail, but the government wants to continue educational activities."

Mahmood said that examinations will be held on time, and the entire syllabus will be covered in it.

Moreover, while talking about the closure of schools in Punjab in light of the smog situation in Lahore, Mahmood said that the closure of schools thrice a week will bring down smog levels as it always has.

The Punjab government had decided to shut down private and government schools in Lahore thrice a week as the smog situation in the provincial capital has taken a turn for the worse.