Punjab closes down all colleges across 25 districts amid Covid rise

LAHORE: As the country fights off with all its might the third wave of the global pandemic which is increasingly concerning the governments with mutated variants and increased infection incidence, the higher education authorities in Punjab have Saturday shut down colleges in at least 25 districts across the province, ARY News reported.

With the deteriorating infection situation into the third wave of the pandemic, the department decided to completely shut down all colleges falling in the remits of at least 25 districts.

The notification released to that effect said today the classes from 9- to 12 grades will be completely shut down in the mentioned districts with an immediate effect and indefinitely. Which means there will be no classes and exceptions at all.

The decision is taken for the districts with the rate of covid infection above 5 per cent, the notification read.

Districts including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Okara, Kasur, Toba Tek Singh, will have all its schools and colleges shut down until further orders, according to the above-posted notification.

Separately, the academic and official activities in the universities will continue as per the previous notification on them.

Separately earlier today on the covid front, the federal information minister Fawad Chaudhry said Saturday if the government had not heeded to the need of taking due steps with the onslaught of the global pandemic last year the country’s situation would be no different than that of India today.

We took into consideration stepping up efforts in the health sector and due to the measures taken then, we still have things under control, federal minister Chaudhry said while talking exclusively in the ARY News program Aiteraz Hai.