ISLAMABAD: Regulators of the capital’s educational institutions have deemed the Covid-19 situation under control, saying on Monday that out of 13,000 tests carried out in schools and colleges only 29 have come back positive so far.

The FDE regulates public sector educational institutions in Islamabad, while private ones are supervised by the Private Educational Institutions Regulations Authority (Peira).

Sources in both organisations said that 13,000 tests of schools’ staff and students have been carried out as of Friday, Sept 25, of which 29 were positive.

They said Peira Chairperson Zia Batool, who is also currently heading the FDE, shared these details with the Ministry of Federal Education on Monday ahead of a National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) meeting that the minister will attend today (Tuesday).

The NCOC meeting will review the situation to determine if primary schools should reopen as planned tomorrow (Wednesday).

Most educational institutions have already opened. Grades nine to university level opened on Sept 15, followed by grades six to eight. The government had announced that primary schools would reopen on Sept 30.

Sources said that so far, four private schools and two universities - Riphah Medical College and the National University of Modern Languages, which was sealed on Sunday - were closed for five days after Covid-19 cases were reported there.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2020