Sindh’s health and education ministers contradict each other on COVID-19

KARACHI: Children remained confused on Thursday as Sindh’s ministers for education and health issued conflicting statements on the novel coronavirus, with one saying they had doubled while the other said that cases of the infection had actually gone down in the province.

Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho said on Thursday that the number of COVID-19 cases across the country had doubled, warning the government against opening educational institutions.

Speaking to Geo News, Dr Pechuho said the coronavirus positivity rate in the province “has increased from 1.5% to 3%” and that it was unwise to reopen schools in the current situation.

The health minister’s statement is important in the backdrop of the planned reopening from September 28 of the province’s middle schools, which were earlier scheduled to resume classes from Sept 21.

She said that a ‘second wave’ of the pandemic can sweep across the country and make more people suffer from the virus.

“Do not rush to open primary schools. Primary schools must be given at least one to one-and-a-half month to reopen,” the Sindh health minister warned.

“It would be right to send children to school only when the situation [related to the coronavirus pandemic] is clear,” she added.

However, Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani confused matters when he said that coronavirus cases had gone down in Sindh, adding that education had suffered a lot during the pandemic.

The provincial minister further said that all classes will resume from September 28, adding that the health department should contact him if there were any problems.