Schools, colleges reopen in Attock

Seven people lose battle to Covid in twin cities while infection rate goes down

ATTOCK/ ISLAMABAD/ RAWALPINDI:

After a prolonged break of around three months, the educational institutions in Attock resumed in-person classes on Monday for students of grades 10 and 12, who have to take the board examinations soon.

According to officials of the education department and Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA), all public and private schools were reopened on Monday for students of grades 10 and 12. They said classes for grades one to nine in schools and first year in colleges will reopen from June 7.

For the encouragement of the students, Deputy Commissioner Imran Hamid Sheikh, along with District Education Authority Chief Executive Officer Mohsin Abbas, the Secondary District Education Officer Akram Zia and Deputy District Education Officer Taqqi Shah welcomed the students of Govt Pilot Secondary School Attock on their first day back to school.

CEO Abbas said that only classes for grades 10 and 12 were allowed to open from Monday with staggered attendance subject to strict compliance of already issued anti-Covid standards operating procedures (SOPs). He maintained that a set of SOPs had been issued for the school staff and parents.

He stated that as per the SOPs, the body temperatures of people entering the institutions would be checked while they would also be sanitised. He added that there would be a ban on organising assemblies or any kind of events until further orders.

DC Sheikh urged the school administration to ensure maximum compliance with preventive measures and the outlined SOPs. He added that a zero-tolerance policy would be observed for students and school administrations that do not follow the recommendations of cloth masks, hand washing and physical distancing.

Meanwhile, the third wave of coronavirus is waning in the federal capital as the test-to-positivity ratio plummets to 2.17 per cent as reported on Monday.

During the past 24 hours, some 3,636 Covid tests were conducted and merely 79 people returned positive. Three infected patients also succumbed to the virus during the span while 173 recovered from it.

According to official reports, so far 81,195 citizens have contracted the deadly virus in the Islamabad Capital Territory of whom 74,964 have recovered fully while 760 have lost their lives. Moreover, there are 5,471 active cases in the city.

Furthermore, the Covid vaccination drive in Rawalpindi has witnessed a sharp increase as more than 10,000 people got themselves jabbed during the last 24 hours at 23 operating centres of the district.

District Health Authority CEO Dr Faiza Kanwal informed that a total of 357,534 vaccine doses have been administered since the inoculation drive was launched in March while over 10,000 were administered alone on Monday. Dr Faiza said that number of beneficiaries being vaccinated every day was showing a progressive increase.

She informed that as many as 4,942 people had been inoculated the vaccine at Tehsil Headquarters Hospital (THQH) Taxila, 923 at THQH Murree, 2,615 at THQH Kahuta, 5,339 at THQH Gujar Khan, 573 at THQH Kotli Sattian, 2,034 at THQH Kallar Syedan, 10,939 at Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology, 5,434 at Holy Family Hospital, 3,769 at DHQ Hospital, 9,298 at Benazir Bhutto Hospital, 699 at Govt TB Sanatorium Samli, 10,264 at Wah General Hospital, 93,908 at Shahbaz Sharif Complex, 21,819 at Tehsil office (TO) Taxila, 12,505 at TO office Kallar Syedan, 29,218 at TO office Gujar Khan, 2,006 at TO office Kotli Sattian, 4,420 at TO office Murree, 68,201 at TO office Potohar, 11,652 at TO office Kahuta, 6,875 District Health Office, 234 Government Wapda hospital while 49,867 people received the jab at Red Crescent vaccination centre.

According to data shared by the district administration, the number of totals positive cases has reached 26,256 including 24,252 belonged to Rawalpindi and 2,004 from other districts after the addition of 21 more positive cases during the last 24 hours.

A report stated that 24,716 patients with positive results were discharged after making a recovery while 1,193 were in quarantine with 722 at homes and 471 in isolation centres. Presently, 105 confirmed patients were admitted to various facilities with 24 at HFH, 18 at BBH, 35 at Institute of Urology, 24 at Fauji Foundation Hospital, three at Bilal hospital and one at Hearts international hospital while four lost their battle of life during the last 24 hours, the report added.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 1^st, 2021.