We may go for another lockdown if coronavirus cases increase: Saeed Ghani

• Sindh education minister says only a handful of cities have seen a rise in the coronavirus positivity ratio.
• Saeed Ghani says Sindh has not announced vacations as in other provinces as there is no spring break in the province.
• Minister says Sindh govt is trying to ensure that students' education is not affected and exams are held on time.

KARACHI: Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani said on Thursday that the Sindh government may have to impose another lockdown if coronavirus cases keep on increasing in the province.

For now, however, the minister said only a handful of cities have seen a rise in the coronavirus positivity ratio.

“We may go towards a lockdown if the situation worsens,” Ghani said while appearing in tv show Geo Pakistan.

Speaking about the closure of schools, the minister noted that vacations have been announced for educational institutes in Peshawar and some cities of Punjab on account of a spring break. 

He added that Sindh did not announce the vacation as there is no concept of a spring break in the province.

Read more: Schools to be closed from March 15 in several cities due to COVID-19 outbreak, says Shafqat Mehmood

The minister also spoke to the show hosts about Wednesday’s National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) meeting.

The provincial minister said that the provinces had opposed the idea of reopening schools to full capacity. He added that the provincial governments were trying to ensure that students' education is not affected and exams are held on time.

The meeting that the minister was talking about had decided that schools will be closed in several cities from Monday, March 15 following a spike in coronavirus cases.

The meeting had also decided that the ban on indoor activities will be extended and the 50% work-from-home policy will be reinforced.