KARACHI: Sindh Minister for Education Saeed Ghani has announced that Schools and educational institutions, for classes IX and above, will reopen from tomorrow (Monday) with strict observance of standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Taking to Twitter, the minister wrote, “Sindh Corona Task Force has decided to reopen educational institutions of Sindh for class 9th and above from 7th June(tomorrow) with strict SOPs. All staff must be get vaccinated.”
The National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) had earlier issued instructions to keep all educational institutions in the province closed till June 7.
Earlier in the day, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said that any shopkeeper who wants to reopen his shop or resume his business should get vaccinated. The Sindh chief minister was speaking at the Expo Centre in Karachi, where another hall has been turned into a vaccination centre.
Shah expressed the hope that soon, life would return to normal in Sindh and restrictions on business and other fields will come to an end. He said shopkeepers who want to reopen their shops will be asked to get the coronavirus jab and get their staff vaccinated as well.
The chief minister said if a school wanted to be reopened, the management will be required to get all teachers and staff members vaccinated. “We will require proof of it [vaccination as well],” he said.
He urged people to keep following coronavirus SOPs even after getting vaccinated and help the government battle the pandemic. The chief minister of Sindh acknowledged that Karachi was still reporting a lot of cases each day. However, he said the coronavirus positivity ratio of the metropolis had declined.
Shah paid tribute to the frontline healthcare workers, saying that their efforts to battle the pandemic were commendable. Speaking about his own government’s vaccination initiatives, the Sindh chief minister said the provincial government had vaccinated 75% of the police officers.
The announcements came in the wake of Sindh reporting 722 new coronavirus cases and 11 deaths. The total number of cases in the province now stands at 323,072 and the death toll has risen to 5,116.
