Lahore/Quetta/Karachi/Peshawar (Staff Report/Agencies): The total number of recovered COVID-19 patients in Pakistan reached 280,970 on Tuesday after another 135 virus recoveries were reported during the last 24 hours.
Over the last twenty four hours, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases rose to 296,149 after 300 new coronavirus cases surfaced in the country.
Overall, 129,469 cases were reported in Sindh, 96,832 in Punjab, 36,118 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 12,879 in Balochistan, 15,649 in Islamabad, 2,903 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and 2,299 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
According to the government's Covid-19 portal, the death toll related to coronavirus has reached 6,298 with 4 fatalities reported during the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Sindh Education and Labour Minister Saeed Ghani chaired a meeting of the education department to finalise standard operating procedures (SOPs) to be implemented with the reopening of schools.
The minister said all SOPs will be finalised in the next two to three days.
The meeting discussed improving the education department, upgrading schools and recruitment of teachers amongst other issues.
Ghani said that a report regarding the academic year and syllabus for upcoming examinations should be prepared and submitted as soon as possible.
"We are well aware that the closure of educational institutions due to Covid-19 has affected the academic year. However, we could not take any risk with the health of our children," the minister said.
He stated that a meeting of the committee will be held on September 7 after which the decision will be announced.
On Monday the World Health Organization (WHO) said it wants to see children returning to school and people returning to the workplace, but at the same time, no country can just pretend the pandemic is over.
Addressing a virtual press conference, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said if countries are serious about opening up, they must be serious about suppressing transmission and saving lives.
"Opening up without having control is a recipe for disaster," Tedros said.
He stressed that there are four essential things that need to be done -- prevent amplifying events; reduce deaths by protecting vulnerable groups; individuals must play their part; governments must take tailored actions to find, isolate, test and care for cases, and trace and quarantine contacts.
"Decisions about how and when to allow gatherings of people must be taken with a risk-based approach and in the local context," the WHO chief said.
It is pertinent to mention that the global coronavirus cases have reportedly surpassed 25.58 million and death toll tops 850,000.
