The capital administration of Pakistan’s Islamabad has decided to seal the Federal Government Postgraduate College for Girls in F-7/2 after two people at the institution tested positive for Covid-19.
The college will be closed for five days, Islamabad District Health Officer Dr Zaeem Zia said.
“We will disinfect the educational institution and try to trace the patients’ contacts. Hopefully, the institution will open after five days but that is not certain,” Dr Zia added.
When asked the policy for closing institutions, Dr Zia said schools and colleges will be closed if two or more people test positive during random sampling in a single day.
“Moreover, educational institutions can be closed for violations of standard operating procedure (SOP), so educational institutions are frequently directed to follow the SOP to control the virus. After the cases were detected at the educational institution, a recommendation was moved to the deputy commissioner to close the college,” he said.
The college will be closed for five days, during which its premises will be disinfected and contact tracing carried out.
He added that other educational institutions have also reported single cases, because of which the health department is monitoring them closely.
“If the number of cases increases, those institutions will be closed,” he said.
Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat said that although the college was sealed, there was a problem with the hostel because a few teachers living there insisted they be allowed to stay.