Authorities sealed on Tuesday four educational institutes including two universities in Islamabad after COVID-19 cases were reported there.

Authorities sealed on Tuesday four educational institutes in Islamabad after COVID-19 cases were reported there.

The Islamabad Model School for Girls, Allied School, Quaid-e-Azam Academy for Educational Development, and the Roots Millennium School One World Campus were closed after they reported two virus cases each.

Multiple departments of two universities in Islamabad were sealed too. Four virus cases were reported at the COMSATS University and 12 at different departments of the National University of Science and Technology.

Educational institutions across Pakistan reopened in August. They were asked to follow precautionary measures like the use of face masks, reduced classroom strength and regular disinfecting.

Authorities have said that Pakistan is going through a second wave of the deadly virus. To restrict the contagion, both government and private institutions have been asked to reduce their workforce to half.

Despite several cases reported at educational institutions across the country, the Higher Education Commission says that Pakistani universities will not be closed again. The coronavirus situation in Pakistan isn’t serious enough to shut down schools yet, Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood said last week.

The World Health Organization, in its October update on coronavirus, said that globally more outbreaks were reported in secondary and/or high schools than in primary/elementary schools.

“Studies suggest that children younger than 10 years are less susceptible and less infectious than the older ones,” it said.

Originally published at SAMAA