A meeting of the provincial education ministers scheduled today (Thursday) to decide on the closure of schools in the wake of rising coronavirus cases has been postponed, Aaj News reported.

As per a statement issued by the Federal Education Ministry, the meeting of the Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC) scheduled for January 13, has been postponed till next week.

"The next date of IPEMC will be communicated later," the statement added.

Last month, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) had advised pushing forward the holidays to January so that students could get vaccinated in schools. However, Punjab closed schools for winter break from December 23.

Educational institutions in Punjab were closed for winter vacations in two phases, one on December 23 and the second on January 3. While, educational institutes in Sindh resumed classes from January 3.

Govt rules out lockdown

Briefing the media after the meeting of the federal cabinet presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said that the meeting was briefed on the Covid-19 situation by NCOC head Umar and Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan.

The minister said that the federal cabinet has decided not to impose lockdown, adding that business activities and educational institutions in the country will not be closed because the country cannot afford a lockdown.

He urged everyone to follow the coronavirus Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

Pakistan's coronavirus positivity was recorded at an alarming 6.12% during the last 24 hours, while the country reported 3,019 cases during the last 24 hours.

The active number of cases jumped to 23,230, of which 651 are critical. Since the pandemic, Pakistan has recorded 1,312,267 Covid-19 cases.

The death toll has risen to 28,992 after five people succumbed to the novel virus during the last 24 hours. The recoveries from coronavirus has reached 1,260,045 after 346 more people recovered from the virus.

This report was first published in Business Recorder on Jan 13, 2022.