ISLAMABAD: The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has decided to close schools in nine districts of the province due to a surge of corona cases.
The decision has taken in a meeting of the provincial task force for coronavirus in Peshawar on Tuesday.
The committee members include Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra, Shaukat Yousafzai and Kamran Bangash.
Moreover, the task force decided closure of schools in nine districts including Peshawar, Charsadda, Mardan, Swabi, Nowshera, Kohat, Malakand, Swat and Lower Dir. It took the decision to shut academic sessions at schools if the positivity rate of Covid-19 cases rises above 10 per cent.
During a briefing, the task force members were told that the current positivity rate of coronavirus cases stands at 1 per cent in southern districts.
The KP task force granted conditional permission to organise Dera Jat Festival and jeep rally. According to the decision, the relevant authorities will shut all programme in case of any violation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) against Covid-19.
Mahmood Khan said that the provincial authorities are taking necessary steps to curb the spread of the virus and asked the citizens to strictly follow the SOPs. He added that the nation could cope with the challenge of the pandemic by exhibiting responsibility.
It is pertinent here to mention that Pakistan on Tuesday has purchased coronavirus vaccine from China for the first time.
According to the health ministry sources, the Pakistani authorities have signed an agreement with Chinese company Sinopharm for vaccines.
The company will provide the vaccine to Pakistan in phases, however, the first batch of five million coronavirus doses from China is expected to be landed in Islamabad today. The sources told that frontline health workers and elderly people will get vaccinated on priority basis.
It is to be mentioned here that the campaign to vaccinate people above 60 years and health workers against coronavirus is already underway.
