Pakistan: Sindh shuts schools, colleges, universities amid spike in COVID-19 cases

Karachi [Pakistan], April 27 (ANI): Amid a deadly third wave of coronavirus, the Sindh government has decided to close all schools, colleges and universities in the province.
According to The International News, the Sindh Government Spokesperson Murtaza Wahab tweeted that office of the provincial government will operate with an essential staff of 20 per cent of the total count.
"All schools, colleges and universities shall also remain closed due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases," said Wahab, as reported by the International news.
The Sindh government spokesperson's tweet came after Chief Minister of Sindh, Murad Ali Shah chaired a meeting of the Provincial Task Force on Coronavirus.
The officials present in the meeting were briefed on the coronavirus situation in the province, as reported by the international news. They were also informed that oxygen plants are present at Dow University Ojha Campus, Trauma Centre and Gambat Hospital.
The spokesperson of CM Sindh confirmed Murtaza Wahab's tweet, adding that "secretaries of various departments have been told that they should ask only important staff to come to office while the rest should be asked to work from home."
The provincial government, according to the spokesperson, has decided to ban visits to jails, as reported by the international news.
The spokesperson added "inter-city transport will also be banned in Sindh from Thursday, April 29," reported International news.
According to the International news report, Pakistan's coronavirus tally crosses 800,000.
The decision by the provincial government came after 70 more people succumbed to coronavirus in Pakistan.
The new deaths took the nationwide COVID-19 death toll to 17,187, while over 4,800 new infections have been reported across the country, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) data showed.
As per the official data, 50,161 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, from which 4,825 tests returned positive.
The positivity rate of coronavirus in Pakistan stands at 9.61% as of today (Monday) whereas the number of active cases stands at 89,219.
The new cases have taken the national tally of positive cases to 800,452 with 285,542 reported in Punjab, 290,788 in Sindh, 114,077 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 72,613 in Islamabad, 21,743 in Balochistan, 16,591 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and 5,258 in Gilgit Baltistan.
Earlier, the Federal Ministry for Interior on Sunday had issued a notification stating that Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the Islamabad Capital Territory will (in accordance with their needs) seek the help of the Pakistan Army to strictly implement the coronavirus SOPs. The orders, however, do not apply to Sindh, as reported by the international news.
The Federal Minister for Interior Minister of Pakistan, Sheikh Rasheed had made the announcement and said that the decision to seek the assistance of the armed forces was taken during a meeting of the National Coordination Committee for Coronavirus on Friday, April 23, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Imran Khan. (ANI)