• Pakistan taking steps to ensure oxygen availability
• PM’s aide says contracts finalised for 30m doses
• Students of class 9 likely to be promoted without exams
ISLAMABAD: In view of the prevailing Covid-19 situation in the country, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Tuesday decided to postpone matric, intermediate and Cambridge exams.
Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood announced that all board exams had been postponed till June 15 and those of Cambridge till the last quarter of the current year.
The NCOC also made it clear that the government would not hesitate to seal more areas in the next few days if other interventions did not work.
Coronavirus in Pakistan: NCOC plans lockdown in 20 cities
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Wednesday Apr 28, 2021
People walk past an army vehicle, patrolling on the street to enforce coronavirus safety protocols, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Peshawar, Pakistan April 25, 2021. -REUTERS
NCOC directs provincial government to make preparations for a two-week lockdown.
Karachi is not on the list of 20 cities where the authorities are mulling a lockdown.
The country s COVID-19 single-day death toll crossed the 200-mark for the first time since the pandemic started last year.
ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Tuesday wrote letters to the provincial governments asking them to prepare for a two-week lockdown in 20 cities from 2/3 May.
On Tuesday Pakistan recorded more than 200 Covid deaths in a day for the first time since the start of the pandemic, taking the country’s overall death toll from the virus to 17,530, according to the National Command Operation Centre (NCOC).
As a “double mutant” Covid variant saw India surpass 200,000 deaths yesterday, Pakistani officials have said “healthcare facilities are at risk of being overwhelmed” with “ventilators and oxygen in short supply”, Karachi-based newspaper Dawn reports.
‘Ticking timebomb’
Pakistan shares a 2,000-mile border with India, which is currently facing the worst coronavirus outbreak in the world, making up almost half of the world’s new Covid infections over the past seven days.
Exams put off till June 15
Exams across the country postponed till June 15
Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood addressing a presser following a meeting of NCOC in Islamabad on March 24, 2021. SCREENGRAB
The federal government has announced more stringent measures to turn the tide of the third wave of Covid-19, postponing all exams till June 15, and banning tourism, closing shopping malls and parks, and shutting down inter-city as well as inter-provincial transport over the Eidul Fitr holidays next month.
The decisions were taken a meeting of the education and health ministers at the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) which serves as the nerve centre of the government’s unified effort against the pandemic.
Govt announces Sehat Insaf Card scheme for Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan
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Govt announces Senat Insaf Card scheme for permanent residents of Islamabad and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Around 258,000 families in Islamabad and 328,000 households in GB will be able to benefit from the scheme, says Dr Faisal Sultan.
Under the scheme, the government has planned to provide free medical treatment to 80 million poor people or 10.5 million households across the country.
ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan on Wednesday presided over a meeting of the National Steering Committee and announced that the PTI government has decided to launch health cards for the permanent residents of Islamabad and Gilgit-Baltistan.