Punjab names nine cities where schools will remain closed

The government of Punjab on Wednesday announced the names of nine cities where schools will remain closed till April 11, 2021.

Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas took to Twitter on Wednesday, shortly after the important National Command and Centre Operation (NCOC) meeting held earlier today, to reveals the names.

“All public & private schools of Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Multan, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Sargodha, Sheikhupura will remain closed till April 11th, 2021. The remaining districts will be open on the previous schedule,” he tweeted.

Earlier, the NCOC meeting chaired by federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood had decided that those schools across the country that are located in coronavirus hotspot areas, will remain closed till April 11.

He was speaking to the media after an important meeting of education and health ministers at the NCOC to decide on the closure of schools amid an alarming rise of coronavirus cases in the country.

The number of COVID-19 active cases have doubled in the last three weeks while the positivity ratio has remained above 8% in the last few days. According to the NCOC data, the number of active cases in Pakistan had climbed to 17,352 on March 6 which reached 36,849 on Wednesday.

Mehmood had said the government will hold a meeting with the Cambridge exams board to see whether examinations can be postponed or not.