Tuesday, 3 November, 2020 I 16 Rabi-ul-Awwal, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 123 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition
SchoolS won’t be cloSed, SayS miniSter aS covid-19 caSeS Surge Imran calls NCOC meeting today; Asad stresses need for immediate measures g
ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
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N the wake of a resurgence of the Covid-19, Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood rejected the rumours regarding the shutdown of schools and said that “at the moment no such decision has been made”. “Rumours again afloat regarding school closures. It is again clarified that educational institutions are NOT being closed,” he announced on Twitter. The minister added that the government would keep a close on the situation and monitor the health of students and teachers. Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas had earlier said that no schools were being closed in spite of the rising number of cases. “Keeping a very close watch on COVID 19 cases in Schools of Punjab. Random testing is being done continuously. There is a slight increase in numbers but nothing alarming. Situation being analysed on
daily basis. There is NO plan to close Schools as of right now. Please follow SOPs [standard operating procedures],” he had tweeted. Earlier, Director of General Health Services Islamabad Dr Hassan Orooj said that the public is not following Covid-19 SOPs, adding that a second lockdown now seems “inevitable”. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan has called a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Tuesday to discuss ways to combat the respiratory disease. The PM will also be briefed by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on the situation. Hours before the announcement of the meeting, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar had said that the government was considering measures to curb the spread of the disease, which first caused a countrywide lockdown in March. “Recommendations will be tabled in the NCC being called for tomorrow,” he
coronaviruS in
PakiStan
CONFIRMED CASES:
331,108
LAST UPDATED AT 7:40 AM ON NOVEMBER 02, 2020
DAY'S DEATH TOLL:
12
RECOVERED:
NEW CASES:
908
DEATHS:
335,093 6,835 SINDH:
PUNJAB:
146,331
104,554
KP:
BALOCHISTAN:
AJK/GB:
ISLAMABAD:
39,649
15,954
4,237/4,279 20,089
said on Twitter. “Need to take immediate measures which have the most impact on disease spread without curtailing economic activity.” Previously, Pakistan had imposed a 21day lockdown before it began easing restrictions. PM Imran often spoke against strict lockdowns due to their economic impact, especially on the lives of poor workers. Pakistan had seen its peak in June, with over 6,000 reported cases in a single day, but by August, that number had fallen to about 200 per day. Under these circumstances, the government had allowed schools to reopen. Unfortunately, cases began to rise again in October, and on November 1, 2020, Pakistan recorded 1,123 new Covid19 cases in a single day. Pakistan’s positivity ratio has risen to over 4 per cent, but this is still below the World Health Organisation (WHO) threshold of 5 per cent. Speaking to a local news outlet, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan said, “The second wave is here in Pakistan.” Health officials insist that if people follow guidelines such as wearing face masks in public spaces and the government relaunches a mass awareness campaign about the virus, another lockdown can be avoided. On Monday, Karachi reported 289 new coronavirus cases out of the total 443 infections registered in Sindh, the province’s chief minister Murad Ali Shah said. Among the new cases, 90 were reported from Karachi’s South District, 83 East, 48 Central, 40 Malir, 18 Korangi, and 10 from West, the chief minister said. Furthermore, Hyderabad reported 39 new cases, Tando Mohammad Khan 18, Shikarpur 12, Khairpur 10, Dadu eight, Ghotki seven, Jamshoro and Sanghar six each, Thatta five, Shaheed Benazirabad four, Matiari three, Badin two, Kashmore, Mirpurkhas, Naushehroferoze, Sujawal and Umerkot one each.
PTI sacks Chohan again, appoints Firdous as CM’s aide LAHORE SHAHAB OMER
Several provincial ministers, including Fayyazul Hassan Chohan, Mehar Muhammad Aslam and Zawar Hussain Warraich, were removed from their posts in a reshuffling of the Punjab cabinet, while former special assistant to prime minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan was appointed as the chief minister’s aide. Firdous, who was removed as the SAPM earlier this year, replaced Javaid Akhtar as the special assistant to chief minister on information. Chohan, however, was not removed from the provincial cabinet, as he continues to hold the portfolio of the Ministry of Colonies. The former provincial information minister has been removed from his post for the second time as he was previously fired for making offensive comments against the Hindu community. Moreover, Aslam and Hussain have been removed from the Ministry of Cooperatives and the Ministry of Prisons, respectively. Sources told Pakistan Today that while Chohan was fulfilling his
Campaign draws to a close with US facing a crossroads PHILADEPHIA AGENCIES
United States President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden have one last chance to make their case to voters in critical battleground states on Monday, the final full day of a campaign that has laid bare their dramatically different visions for tackling the nation’s pressing problems and for the office of the presidency itself. The candidates are seeking to lead a nation at a crossroads, gripped by a historic pandemic that is raging anew in nearly every corner of the country and a reckoning over race. More than 93 million people have already voted and each campaign insists it has a pathway to victory, though Biden’s options for picking up the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win are more plentiful. Trump is banking on a surge of enthusiasm from his most loyal supporters. The president’s final day has him sprinting through five rallies, from North Carolina to Wisconsin. Biden, meanwhile, was devoting most of his time to Pennsylvania, where a win would leave Trump with an exceedingly narrow path. Biden was also dipping into Ohio, a show of confidence in a state where Trump won by 8 percentage points four years ago. Heading into the closing 24 hours, Trump and Biden each painted the other as unfit for office and described the next four years in nearapocalyptic terms if the other were to win. “The Biden plan will turn America into a prison state locking you down while letting the far-left rioters roam free to loot and burn,” Trump thundered Sunday at a rally in Iowa, one of the five
he held in battleground states. Biden said America was on the verge of putting “an end to a presidency that’s fanned the flames of hate.” “When America is heard, I believe the message is going to be clear: It’s time for Donald Trump to pack his bags and go home,” Biden said in Philadelphia, the biggest city in a state that could decide the presidency. “We’re done with the chaos, the tweets, the anger, the hate.” As the candidates close out the campaign, the pandemic, which has killed more than 230,000 Americans and cost nearly 20 million to lose jobs, reached a new peak in infection rates, threatening yet another blow to the lives and livelihoods of voters. The election caps an extraordinary year that began with Trump’s impeachment, the nearcollapse of Biden’s candidacy during the crowded Democratic primary and then was fully reshaped by the coronavirus outbreak. A record number of votes have already been cast, through early voting or mail-in ballots, which could lead to delays in their tabulation. Trump has spent months claiming without evidence that the votes would be ripe for fraud while refusing to guarantee that he would honor the election result. In the starkest terms yet, Trump on Sunday threatened litigation to stop the tabulation of ballots arriving after Election Day. As soon as polls closed in battlegrounds such as Pennsylvania, Trump said, “we’re going in with our lawyers.” It was unclear precisely what Trump meant. There is already an appeal pending at the Supreme Court over the counting of absentee ballots in Pennsylvania that are received in the mail in the three days after the election.
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duties and also garnered praise from Prime Minister Imran Khan himself, the decision to remove his was taken at the Prime Minister House. Moreover, the PM House also decided to engage Firdous in the province. They said that Firdous was to be given this portfolio almost a week ago, but since she was mentioned in the detailed judgement of the Supreme Court (SC) in Justice Qazi Faez Isa case for her insulting remarks against the judge in the past, the decision was put on hold to allow things to cool down. Interestingly, Chohan, while speaking to journalists on Monday, said that he was unaware that he had been removed from the ministry. It is worth mentioning here that Firdous was removed from her former post on charges of possessing assets beyond known sources of income and abuse of power. However, soon after her appointment, the newly-appointed CM’s aide, thanked the premier and the provincial chief executive for giving her a portfolio in Punjab and reiterated her commitment to fulfilling her responsibilities.
more inside
Gunmen kill at least 19 students in attack on Kabul University STORY ON BACK PAGE
Minor Christian girl recovered, confirms Sindh government STORY ON PAGE 02
Ending class-based education system top priority: PM STORY ON PAGE 02
Those expecting factions within PML-N have received our ‘message of unity’: Maryam STORY ON PAGE 03