ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) at its meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday unanimously decided to reopen the primary level schools from Wednesday (tomorrow).

Addressing the media in Islamabad on Tuesday, Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood said the decision had been taken after consultations amongst all the federating units including Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan.

The minister said since the reopening of educational institutions from Sept 15, 171,436 coronavirus tests were carried out in the education sector. Of these, he said 1,284 tested positive which was less than one percent.

Also Read: Two wounded, 12 arrested as religious groups clash in Karachi’s Gulistan e Johar area

The minister said keeping in view this data, it had been decided to resume the primary level classes.

Shafqat Mahmood said action had been taken against the educational institutions breaching the standard operating procedures and in future also the same course will be pursued to ensure the safety of the children.

Overall 672 new cases of coronavirus surfaced in the country after tests of 32,665 people were conducted over the last twenty-four hours.

According to the latest statistics, the pandemic claimed lives of eight more people during the last twenty-four hours.

296,340 patients have so far recovered from the disease. There are now 8,702 active cases in the country.