MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to close all educational institutions in the territory until Apr 6 and imposed a health emergency due to the rising threat of coronavirus, a cabinet member said on Friday.

In a series of tweets, Minister for Information and Tourism Raja Mushtaq Minhas stated that a meeting held in Kashmir House, chaired by Prime Minister Farooq Haider had decided that all decisions of National Security Council to prevent spread of coronavirus would be implemented in AJK in totality.

“All educational institutions and tuition centres in AJK will remain closed from tomorrow to April 6 and the exams scheduled to begin from Saturday under the aegis of Board of Intermediate and Secondary Educations have also been cancelled,” he stated.

“The government has also banned public gatherings, including religious congregations, festivals and [large scale] wedding parties,” Mr Minhas added, asking people to restrict wedding ceremonies to limited guests within their homes.

Health minister Dr Najeeb Naqi Khan, who was also present at the meeting, said no one had tested positive anywhere in AJK yet the government decided to accelerate precautionary measures.

Mr Minhas said the screening process at AJK’s eleven entry points would be improved and quarantine centres would be established in each district where people coming from abroad would be quarantined.

He said AJK’s overseas commissioner had been given the responsibility of establishing contacts with expatriates in this regard. Under trial prisoners would also be restricted to their respective prisons, he added.

In order to lessen crowds on court premises in AJK, we will request the chief justice to defer hearings of civil suits for some time, he said.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2020