Health authorities resume random testing for Covid-19 in schools.

PESHAWAR -- Eight more people died of Covid-19 and 210 new cases were recorded in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as health authorities resumed screening of students of high school and intermediate classes on Monday.

The results of testing in educational institutions will be analysed in the meetings of National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on the basis of which decision about resumption of classes for primary, middle and university students will be made, according to officials.

The government and private sector high and higher secondary schools and colleges on Monday resumed education activities at their campuses after one and a half month closure due to second weave of the pandemic.

KP records eight more deaths, 210 new cases

All the educational institutions across the province were closed on November 26 owing to severity in the second wave of Covid-19 as per decision taken by the federal and provincial education ministries.

Primary to middle schools and universities would resume educational activities from February 1.Meanwhile, a daily situation report released by health department said that six of the eight Covid-19 deaths occurred in Peshawar and one each in Haripur and Bannu.

The province has recorded a total of 1,791 mortalities and 63,825 cases so far since the onset of the pandemic.

Of the total positive patients, 58,348 have recovered from the infectious disease with the recoveries of 108 more patients during the last 24 hours. At present, there are 3,696 active cases in the province.

Officials said that about 2000 Covid-19 cases were detected in educational institutions prior to closure of schools on November 26.

The positivity trend had reached 10 per cent among inmates of educational institutions, prompting the World Health Organisation to suggest closure of the institutions to avoid more cases and deaths in the second wave of the pandemic.

WHO feared that there was no death among students despite being positive for the virus but they posed threats to the elderly people or those with underlying medical conditions in their homes and in neighbourhoods.

'The NCOC has instructed all the provinces to resume...