PESHAWAR: All educational institutions in eight districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa having high coronavirus infection rate will remain closed from September 04 (today) till September 11.

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Friday decided to impose new restrictions in selected districts with high disease prevalence in order to contain the further spread of coronavirus. The NCOC meeting briefed Prime Minister Imran Khan on the COVID-19 situation in the country. The participants of the meeting also reviewed the non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) of specific districts. It was decided that additional NPIs would be implemented in specific districts from September 04 to 12 in order to decrease the spread of disease.

According to the NCOC announcement, the meeting took stock of current disease situation in different districts and admissions in hospitals. The prime minister accorded approval to non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to 24 districts with high disease prevalence. In these districts, schools and inter-city transport will remain closed during next week.

The KP districts where schools, colleges and universities will remain closed till September 11 include Peshawar, Swabi, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Malakand, Swat, Haripur, and Dera Ismail Khan. However, the teacher training slated for today will continue as per schedule.

Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Shahram Khan Tarakai said in a tweet that with the persisting situation of Covid-19 across the country, the NCOC has decided to close schools in areas where corona is on a consistent rise. He also shared the official notification regarding new restrictions.

Other districts where the restrictions would be implemented include Islamabad, Sargodha, Khushab, Mianwali, Rahim Yar Khan, Khanewal, Faisalabad, Bhakkar, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Multan, Bahawalpur, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Sialkot and Sheikhupura.

Additional restrictive measures include ban on all indoor and outdoor events. However, outdoor wedding events would be allowed with a maximum of 300 guests, whereas a ban on indoor gyms would also be implemented.

The NCOC in its special guidelines under the Obligatory Regime for Vaccination to overcome the deadly contagious disease announced that non-vaccinated individuals would not be allowed to avail many services after September 15.

On Friday, Pakistan reported 57 more corona deaths, and the death toll reached 26,035.