Punjab government’s decision to give additional holidays for school children to prevent the spread of conjunctivitis seems to have paid off dividends as the number of cases reported across the province has fallen drastically.

The province had reported almost 15,000 cases within 24 hours four days ago. However, only 1,134 cases were reported on Saturday.

Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi had recently visited a government school for girls on Ravi Road in Lahore where he had found students suffering from the pink-eye infection sitting in classes.

Read:Over 10,000 cases reported as Pink eye outbreak surges in Punjab

Naqvi had expressed displeasure at the situation and issued orders for two additional holidays, Thursday and Saturday, to be granted to students to control the spread of the infection.

According to figures from the Punjab Health Department, a total of 98,627 people across the province have been infected with the diseases so far. Out of these, 8,682 patients are in Lahore alone.