Karachi commissioner warns of sealing schools not vaccinating students

• Karachi schools not inoculating students over 12 years to be sealed.
• Wedding hall owners directed to ensure implementation of SOPs.
• Not more than 1,000 people will be allowed inside a wedding hall.

KARACHI: Karachi Commissioner Muhammad Iqbal Memon, in view of the rising COVID-19 cases in the city, Friday ordered strict implementation of the SOPs and sealing schools refusing to inoculate children over 12 years, The News reported.

The commissioner's statement came during as he chaired a meeting in the port city, where all the deputy commissioners briefed the commissioner regarding vaccination targets in their respective districts. Memon asked them to speed up the vaccination process.

The meeting took place to review the worsening situation of the coronavirus pandemic in the metropolis and implementations of the protocols.

The commissioner said that it must be made sure that the children above the age of 12 were vaccinated and for this purpose, schools must also be taken on board. He said action would be taken against those schools that refuse to get their students vaccinated.

The commissioner also directed to seal schools that violate SOPs.

He also advised the citizens to get themselves inoculated against COVID-19 as soon as possible.

Memon took notice of violations of COVID-19 SOPs at wedding halls. He directed the wedding hall owners to make sure that the SOPs were not violated.

The commissioner ordered that entry in wedding halls without masks would be banned and to implement it, teams of police and the rangers accompanied by the assistant commissioner would inspect wedding halls.

He directed all the deputy commissioners to focus on wedding halls and make sure that the SOPs were truly implemented. The meeting's participants decided that not more than 1,000 people would be allowed inside a wedding hall.

It is pertinent to mention here that Karachi's positivity ratio reached 35.30% in the last 24 hours.

Will Sindh impose a lockdown?

Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah had said a day earlier the decision to impose a lockdown and close educational institutions will be taken in line with the National Command and Operation Centre's (NCOC) recommendations.

CM Shah, speaking to journalists in Karachi, had said coronavirus cases were spreading at a rapid pace, but the situation was under control as hospitalisations and patients in intensive care units (ICU) in the port city were less.

"Whatever strategy we adopt, it will be in consultation with NCOC," he had reiterated.

The chief minister had said the provincial government is monitoring the coronavirus situation, as he noted that infections were not only rising in Sindh, but across the rest of Pakistan too.