Authorities have closed all public and private educational institutes in Islamabad till Eidul Fitr, the Federal Directorate of Education announced Sunday.

The decision was taken at a National Command and Operation
Centre meeting earlier this week.

“All educational institutions working under the ambit
of FDE shall be closed for all students inclusive of SSC and HSSC with
immediate effect i.e; 24th April 2021 till Eid ul Fitr,” the FDE said in a
statement.

“All premises shall be disinfected thoroughly and only
the necessary staff is to be called when necessary and with no more than 50% of
the total staff in a day.”

The FDE directed area education officers to disseminate the
advice to the heads of all institutions and ensure its implementation in true
letter and spirit.

However, the heads of education institutions shall ensure
that home-based learning continues as per previous arrangements, it said.

Islamabad reported eight deaths and new cases of the virus
in the last 24 hours, according to official figures.

On Friday, Islamabad’s PIMS hospital said it had run out of beds for people due to increasing number of coronavirus patients.

In a letter to the health minister, the hospital’s director
said they had indefinitely postponed planned surgeries. The hospital decided to
shift coronavirus patients to other wards to ensure availability of oxygen to
them, according to the letter.

The facility has reached its “maximum capacity to admit and
treat the COVID-19 patients and scores of COVID patients are waiting in
Emergency Room occupying oxygen points,” it read.

The hospital management asked the federal authorities to
ramp up facilities at other hospitals in Islamabad.