Corona cases cross 3,000 once again – should the government go ahead with school reopening?

According to the data by the Government of Pakistan (GOP), 3,097 coronavirus cases were recorded on January 13, 2021. The last time there were more than 3,000 coronavirus cases was on December 18, almost one month ago. Since then the coronavirus cases had declined to an average of 2,000 per day.

The government decided on January 4, 2021, that the schools would be reopened starting from January 18 in phases. However, the government had planned a meeting today i.e. 14 January 2021 to assess the current situation and make a final decision.

According to researchers from Princeton University among others, children are the biggest contributors to the spread of the coronavirus. As such the government should be really cautious before opening the schools as children have the highest contact-to-transmission ratio and could cause the number of cases in the country to rapidly increase.

It may be beneficial for everyone that the current school year is conducted completely online and the exams may be taken in person at the start of the next year or online especially as the students all over Pakistan are demanding that online exams be taken since online studies have no comparison to in-person learning making it unfair. This will also give a decent amount of time so the spread of the virus can be mitigated. By that point, Pakistan is likely to start the first phase of the coronavirus vaccine which should show some positive effects.

Image Source: CGTN