LAHORE: The Punjab government on Tuesday announced that the public and private schools would open on Thursday (tomorrow). Punjab Minister for School Education Murad Raas announced the opening of the schools across the province from Sept 16.

He tweeted the announcement, “All Public and Private Schools of Punjab to remain closed until Wednesday September 15th, 2021. Stay home and stay safe.”

Earlier, the government had closed the educational institutes in Punjab from Sep 6 to 11 but due to continuous rise in cases the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) extended the closure of institutions till Sept 15.

Meanwhile, the NCOC announced restrictions in six districts of Punjab including Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujrat and Sargodha where the prevalence of Covid-19 remained comparatively higher than the rest of the country. Additional restrictions would remain till Sept 15 but with some changes.

Punjab reported 1,264 Covid-19 cases and 34 deaths over the past 24 hours.

The province’s infection tally now stands at 415,654 and the death toll has climbed to 12,259.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2021