Punjab education dept issues statement on schools' closure

• Education dept to base decision on schools' closure on COVID-19 tests.
• Health dept teams to start testing of students in schools across Punjab.
• NCOC had said earlier schools in high infection rate cities will be closed.

LAHORE: Punjab school education department has said that schools in the province will not be closed for now, as the decision on their closure will be based on COVID test results.

"Schools are not being closed for now. Tests will be conducted first in schools," the education department said in a statement after the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) revised guidelines for educational institutes.

Read more: Number of patients on critical care surges past 1,000

The decision to close schools will be based on the positivity ratio, it said, adding that health department teams have geared up to start testing in educational institutions.

'Schools with high positivity to be closed for one week'

A day earlier, the NCOC had announced that all schools with a high COVID-19 positivity ratio would remain closed for one week across the country.

According to a notification issued in this regard, the NCOC said: "Education institutions, premises, sections, specific classes with high positivity to be closed for ONE week."

The notification further added that provincial administration, in consultation with district health, education authorities, and school administrations, are to set a threshold of cases for deciding such closures.

The NCOC added that COVID testing in education institutes was carried out in major Omicron hit cities to ascertain disease spread among students and ensure accurate disease mapping.

Therefore, keeping in view the results, the NCOC has taken the following decisions:

Aggressive testing in education institutes for next two weeks especially in high disease prevalence cities.

Federating units to carry out special vaccination drives in schools to ensure 100% vaccination of students over 12 years of age.