Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan and Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood, in a press conference, have announced that educational institutes in Punjab will remain closed from March 15 to 28. The decision was taken after a meeting of the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) to review the situation of coronavirus in the country.

The government officials said that educational institutes in Punjab will remain closed from March 15 to March 28 to contain the spread of Covid-19, adding that spring break will begin in seven districts of Punjab, including Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Lahore, Gujrat, Multan, Rawalpindi and Sialkot. Mahmood said the same decision will also apply to educational institutions in Islamabad, Muzaffarabad and Peshawar.

However, the decision of the closure of the schools will not be applicable to schools that are already conducting examinations.

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Educational institutions in Sindh and Balochistan would continue with 50 percent attendance every day.

Earlier today, Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar presided over the NCOC meeting. To contain the spread of the virus the in the country, the following decisions have been taken:

  • Strict compliance of Mask Wearing will continue across the board.
  • SLDs / Micro SLDs will continue to be imposed based on the disease prevalence / hotspots.
  • 50% work from home policy will be implemented on the discretion of federating units. However, it will be enforced in ICT with immediate effect.
  • Time limit of 10:00 PM on all commercial activities will be re-enforced with immediate effect, less essential services.
  • Amusement Parks across the country will be closed at 6:00 PM..
  • Earlier decision of allowing indoor weddings, indoor dining and opening of cinemas and shrines with effect from March 15, 2021 has been withdrawn. However, outdoor dining / take away will continue to remain open as per previous practice.
  • Outdoor gatherings will continue to remain limited to a maximum of 300 individuals with strict enforcement of COVID -19 SOPs.
  • Review of all enforced  non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) will be carried out on April 12, 2021.

The above-mentioned decisions regarding non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) are the baseline decisions. Federating units are at liberty to impose stricter NPIs in selected cities/districts keeping in view the local disease trend/ spread.