In the wake of a unanimous decision taken by the Centre and provincial governments in consultation with all stakeholders, our students are back to school — after a long gap of more than six months. The schools across the country had been closed in the middle of March as the novel coronavirus had crossed into our borders.
The authorities have prescribed SOPs so as to avoid the deadly virus, which has been contained to a huge extent, to spread again. Right now there are less than twelve thousand active cases of the virus. Of the total of 302,768 Covid patients in the country as of Tuesday, September 15, as many as 290,261 have recovered while 6,392 have lost their lives. This shows that the situation is pretty much under control. Now with the schools reopen, there are apprehensions of them becoming a driver of the spread of the virus through students, teachers and school staff.
Under the circumstances, we all have to make a collective effort to avoid such a situation — parents will have to ensure that their children wear masks and use sanitizer; school drivers must ensure that students keep a distance inside their vans; and school administrations should carry out regular disinfection at their premises and follow distancing protocols.
Hala Syed
Karachi
Published in The Express Tribune, September 16th, 2020.
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