CHINIOT: At least 12 more government schools were sealed in the district after 33 people, including an education officer, students and teachers tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday.

The new cases surfaced as local education department got conducted Covid tests of teachers, students and officials in various schools in the district.

The test results showed that in 12 schools 11 teachers and 21 students tested positive for the virus, besides an education officer.

As Chiniot was considered as less affected by the pandemic, the schools in the district were not closed by the government. But, mainly because of the overcrowded classrooms in the government schools, where 100-120 children were crammed in a class, the Covid was spreading fast among students and teachers.

Punjab Teachers Union vice president Safdar Kalru expressed grave concern over the situation and demanded all the public and private schools be opened with 50 percent attendance of students in the district like the practice in various other cities.

Iqbal Saleemi, the district education authority’s focal person for Covid-19, confirmed that 12 more schools had been sealed. He added that so far 75 schools had been sealed in the district for 8-15 days.

He said two teachers -- Mushtaq Hussain and Sarfraz Nigar -- had already died of Covid-19.

He said total 6,887 samples had so far been taken from various educational institutions in the district, out of these 83 teachers and 110 students tested positive.

Meanwhile, DEA Chief Executive Officer Zafar Rehan, in a notification said the schoolchildren would be called on alternative days in the classes having more than 70 students.

He claimed strict implementation of Covid SOPs was being ensured in the schools in the district.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2021